Heading Back from PMI LIM…

Okay… So I’m totally out of the habit of writing now. It’s kinda sad because I’ve actually had a ton of thoughts lately on various topics. The challenge isn’t just finding the time… It’s figuring out how to slice things small enough to make a readable post. I’ve got lots of big ideas floating around in my head… writing about them is a whole other story.

Anyway… I think I’m just going to try to get back in the habit of posting on a regular basis. I’ll apologize in advance if my posts totally suck, or are just simply off topic for a while. Be patient while I get back in a groove. I want to start by talking a little about what I’ve been working on lately.

As you guys know… I headed out on my own a few months back. That was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. It’s really tough when you are used to having a boss and an employer to make that leap to being totally self-employed. It’s easy to have the mindset that a company is going to take care of you. I’m enjoying taking care of myself.

Anyway… while LeadingAgile the blog is floundering, LeadingAgile the business is doing great. I managed to get myself booked full time with several clients here in Atlanta through the end of the year. My business development pipeline is pretty full and I’m expecting to fill up the first quarter of next year over the next few weeks.

It’s been a lot of hard work, but I’ve been really blessed to have the support of my family and a number of great consultants that have given me some excellent advice along the way. Seriously… I think I’m going to have to do an appreciations post sometime in the next few weeks to thank the wonderful cloud of people that have been behind me through this.

The support has been overwhelming.

For someone that works full time in Atlanta, I feel like I’ve been on the road a ton. I’ve done a few trips out to San Francisco and one to Toronto… one of my clients has offices in several locations and that’s kept me on traveling a bit. I’ve also done a little bit of conference travel and some community stuff over the past few weeks. It’s been a fun ride.

I’m getting ready to amp up my participation in the PMI Agile Community of Practice. My good friend Jesse Fewell is stepping down (but still on the board) and I am assuming the Chief Product Owner role. I’m counting on the support of Dennis Stevens, Brian Bozzuto, and Jesse and I think we are going to be able to make some good stuff happen over the next few months. I’ll keep you guys posted on how things go.

Speaking of PMI, I was in DC this week for the Leadership Institute Meetings. I have mixed feelings about PMI events… the are well done, but there is so much content that just doesn’t interest me. That said, like most conferences, all the cool stuff happens in the restaurants and pubs… and we had a ton of restaurant and pub time this week. You guys should see the investment PMI is making in Agile… it’s coming guys… you better get ready.

I’ll share some picks on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/leadingagile) for you to check out… it’s crazy.

On another note… have you guys heard about the ICAgile project yet? I had the opportunity to spend the early part of this week with Alistair and Ahmed Sidky working through the model in pretty fine grained detail. Aside from being honored just to have a seat at the table, I think these guys are developing a really solid model. Again, something exciting going on that I think you should be paying attention to.

If you want more information on ICAgile, check out their website at www.icagile.com. I plan to blog on this a bit, that that is a whole post in an of itself.

Past that…

Dennis and I have made VERY LITTLE progress on the book. I take full responsibility for our lack of progress… last year I decided to turn my life upside down leaving VersionOne and joining Pillar. This year I did it again leaving Pillar and going out on my own. I finally feel like I’ve arrived where I need to be, and I feel settled. I am looking forward to restarting that project over the next week or two. More to come on that too, I hope.

On a personal note… my oldest son started high school this year. That’s been fun. He is in marching band and we are doing all the Friday night football games. I think I have been to more of his games that I ever went to when I was in high school. Very fun. My youngest son is playing right tackle in the 8yo football team. That’s a little scary, but he is having fun with it. My middle son likes to sit on the couch and play XBox… so we are trying to figure out what to do about that ;-)

We are planning a trip to New York over Thanksgiving. We have tickets to Wicked and want to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Past that we are open to suggestions. If you have any thoughts on what we should do, I am all ears. Left to our own devices, I’d go do all the typical tourist stuff. So really, looking for some help here. I’ve also got some time blocked over the Christmas holidays and I am going to try to spend at least half of them sleeping outside in a tent… wish me luck!

Anyway… I’m excited to start writing again. Hopefully I’ll be able to create some momentum here and get back in my groove. Catch you guys later.