My Agile Journey - Gary Bamberger
Gary Bamberger, President
Before I started my Lean - Agile journey, I was the leader of a team of software developers in a corporation. I worked with and supported my team to deliver projects that took a long time to deliver via the traditional waterfall methodology.
One of our development teams started using a different way to deliver software called Scrum. This created a lot of turmoil because we had no experience with Scrum, didn’t understand how to implement it, and couldn’t foresee what the consequences might be of using it. We couldn’t effectively answer basic questions and ran into many pitfalls while transitioning to Scrum.
As a result, I attended Scrum training myself to understand Scrum better. I was the most skeptical participant in the training. I didn’t really “get” the concepts or the values.
But I did see the results. Our teams hit their stride, delivering working software every 2 weeks. And I witnessed how much value our business partners got out of using Scrum.
Now, my mission is to improve the world by inspiring people in the Lean-Agile community to acknowledge their potential and strive to achieve it by intentionally leading their lives. I accelerate clients’ lean-agile growth through coaching and mentoring that positively impacts the people around them and their organizations. I guide people, teams, and organizations on their agile journeys, to help them avoid pitfalls and enable them to implement long-lasting transformative change.
Our Agile Philosophy
First and foremost, agile is a journey, not a destination. Each person’s journey is unique. The is same is true for teams and organizations. Agility, like most things in life, is not something you can learn and master in a classroom. That may be the starting point, but it takes time to master like any worthwhile skill.
Second, we are pragmatic in our approach. We meet people, teams and organizations where they are and work to accelerate their Agile mastery. Context is important, so we use customizable assessments to understand it. We then create plans / roadmaps in collaboration with the people we are serving. We do not use a “one size fits all,” standardized approach.
Third, long-lasting change requires that the organizational culture embraces Lean and Agile values and principles. This change can only occur through leaders embracing a Lean - Agile mindset based on the values and principles and infusing these throughout the organization. There are many examples of failed transformations due to leaders failing to fulfill these responsibilities. Part of our role is to help achieve buy-in from leaders so that the organization is successful.
If you’re interested in contacting us to learn more about how we can leverage our experiences and insights to best serve you, please reach out. Or, visit our library of resources to continue expanding your Agile knowledge.