1. The Transformation of an Agile Purist
to an Agile Mind
Why we should all give up the scrum guide

2. Jessica Soroky
Director of Agile Practices for NextGear Capital
Blogger
Coach
CSM, LGAC, CCA, AHF, PAL – E, HoA
@JLSoroky
www.limitlessbychoice.com
https://jessicasorokyblog.wordpress.com/

3. WHERE I STARTED – AGILE PURIST
19 Years-old + NO previous
understanding/comparison =
latch onto the only rule book guide.

4. What I got in return
• Resistance to EVERYTHING I said
• A reputation of being extremely black and white
• Constant personal frustration
• A GREAT understanding of the agile frameworks and methodologies
from a theoretical perspective

5. Why it took 6 years to change
• I thought I was right.
• I had successes, my career took off.
• Teams were getting big wins.
• It was safe and easy to lean on the ”rules”.

6. What finally changed?
• Went from consultant to FTE
• Got tired of trying to be
“right”
• Realized that agile is a house
built on a million opinions
• I got tired of endless debates
• I realized the manifesto
doesn’t reference the most
important part of agile – the
mindset

7. Agile Mind
Characterized by quickness, lightness, and ease of
movement; nimble. 2. Mentally quick or alert: an agile
mind. [French, from Latin agilis, from agere, to drive, do;
see ag- in Indo-European roots.] ag′ile·ly adv.
Agile definition:
An agile mind welcomes and embraces change and is
not upset with any change in the workplace that is
presented, whether in a crisis situation or not. You easily
adapt and get excited when something new and unusual
is presented to you.

8. HOW?
1.Learn about as many different approaches as
possible
• Where do they work best
• What parts of them are the most effective/powerful
2.Embrace and encourage “what works” not what
it should be
3.Have an experimental mentality
4.Define what success looks like
5.Make that definition your new obsession

9. 1.Learn about as many
different approaches
as possible
• Where do they work best
• What parts of them are
the most
effective/powerful
Kanban
Continuous Integration
DevOps
DAD
Scrum
LeanLeSS
Extreme Programing (XP)
Crystal
DSDM
OpenUP
Test Driven Development
(TDD)
AUP
Waterfall

10. 2. Embrace and encourage “what works”
not what it should be

11. FAILURE DOESN’T MEAN THE
GAME IS OVER,
IT MEANS TRY AGAIN WITH
EXPERIENCE
3. Have an experimental mentality

12. 1.mentality
4. Define what success looks like

13. 5. Make that definition
your new obsession

14. The question isn’t “What do you want to be?”

15. DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE
&
HOW TO DO CREATE THAT?

16. Questions?

17. Jessica Soroky
Director of Agile Practices for NextGear Capital
Blogger
Coach
CSM, LGAC, CCA, AHF, PAL – E, HoA
@JLSoroky
www.limitlessbychoice.com
https://jessicasorokyblog.wordpress.com/