The Agile Citizen -- a new blog!

I’ve been very fortunately in my career lately as I have had many opportunities which are allowing me to grow personally.  The most recent opportunities are related to Agile and Lean, and it’s certainly become my new passion and focus!  This doesn’t mean I’m giving up anything I already believe in (including project management), but now I’ve found a way to enhance everything I’ve stood for.  I have been in IT for nearly 25 years now, and still enjoy this career path I am on.   If I didn’t then it would be time for a career change, which just isn’t in the cards.  

I’ve been toying with the idea of a blog for some time now, and have finally decided it’s time to make the leap!   I guess my resistance has always been a fear of failure.   Writing a blog certainly makes you vulnerable, by putting your thoughts out on the internet for all to read and comment on!  However, I believe there’s a lot of to be learned even if what you give me is criticism. 

I have titled my blog the Agile Citizen for a couple reasons:

1. it’s available!  (what can I say … it’s true that this helped to narrow my choice)
2. I believe in an effective Agile environment I am but a citizen of a larger community.   Agile is not about any one of person and the job we do in the act of delivering value.  Rather it’s about the citizen’s of a community and we’re all important to ensuring the greatest degree of value is provided.   While it is true the developer delivers the most direct value, others are required to provide support and so are equally important.    My community is multi-layered, starting with the teams I work with in my job, and extends out to the local Agile community and around this world we share.

My plans at this time is to write a new entry every 2-3 weeks at worst.  However, that will vary based on the activities in my life.   I will use Twitter to notify of new blogs for anyone who cares to follow (Tweet ID: @mikeeedwards)

Next week I plan to start a series of blog entries to summarize a presentation I’m using at several conferences right now.  My presentation’s topic focuses on how to apply project management effectively using the agile principles, allowing for the delivery of maximum value to your customer.   I am receiving good feedback from those who have attended my presentation, so I would like to share more broadly.

Until then … be Agile!

Mike