Author Archives: Ken Judy

About Ken Judy

I am an executive leader, software developer, father and husband trying to do more good than harm. I am an agile practitioner. I say this fully aware I say nothing. Sold as a tool to solve problems, agile is more a set of principles that encourage us to confront problems. Broad adoption of the jargon has not resulted in wide embrace of these principles. I strive to create material and human good by respecting co-workers, telling truth to employers, improving my skills, and caring for the people affected by the software I help build.

The next big thing

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The hot topic in the scrum community is scale.

Size may offer more opportunity (it may not) but it demands overhead and compromise.

Necessity forces us to skip to advanced topics but there are so many fundamentals to master:

  • recruiting and developing talented and diverse individuals,
  • forming collaborative and highly productive teams,
  • crafting ambitious work at sustainable pace,
  • excellence, invention, and joy that benefits ourselves, our peers, our customers, and end users.

I’m not as interested in learning how to work with more people as I am in learning how to invent valuable software really, really well.

Chasing Rainbows?

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My life feels a little circular these days. Two job changes in four months.

During both searches, I asked myself the same questions.

  1. Limit my search to [agile] shops?
    • Yes.
  2. What do I mean by [agile]?
    • Scrum project management with the XP discipline.
    • Empowered, accountable product owners.
    • Collaboration and reflection.
    • User-centered product development.

Why such a narrow search?

  • I want to accomplish something.
  • I want to be inspired by my work and my co-workers.
  • I want to be part of a real team
  • I want to have fun.
  • I want to balance my work and my personal life.

I don’t claim my criteria are the only way to achieve these ends but they are my path to them.

Zip it

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Bush Assails ‘Appeasement,’ Touching Off Storm

“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have an obligation to call this what it is: the false comfort of appeasement.”

— George Bush

“I constantly reject this notion that any hint of strategies involving diplomacy are somehow soft or indicate surrender or means that you are not going to crack down on terrorism”

— Barack Obama

Anti-diplomatic, non-negotiation…