Fan Mail
This is where people who want to say something great about Lyssa’s training and coaching/mentoring come to leave their thoughts. Feel free to add your comments, should you be so moved.
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I just completed a coaching circle with Lyssa and 5 others. We started in May and had six (I think!) hour and 1/2 telephone discussions regarding agile coaching. It was very helpful to me as a newbie SM and coach; there were rich insights, observations, and suggestions. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience!
I recently completed the Coaching Agile Teams class in Boston. Lyssa did a excellent job presenting the material, facilitating the exercises, and creating a supportive and fun environment to learn and grow. Lyssa helped us tackle real-world problems and build our personal backlogs for continued learning after the class. I found the two-days very rewarding and have already applied techniques learned in the class with my team. I plan on taking the second part to this training. I highly recommend this class to Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches!
I had the privilege of participating in a 1.5 hour coaching circle that Lyssa led, followed by her book signing and presentation to a large group. Lyssa models a much needed synthesis of practical, nuts and bolts experience with Agile teams, bolstered by her wisdom and huge heart. Her contributions to the fields of Agile and Scrum are much needed, given the importance of the human aspects of technology teams. I heartily recommend Lyssa’s work and her books to all Agile coaches and teams.
Lyssa did a great job teaching an agile coaching class on Boston this week. She aligned the material to the class needs. She was able to address many real work issues presented by the class in her examples. Many of the techniques were demonstrated using interactive exercises that kept the class fun. I highly encourage SCRUM masters and coaches to take this class to learn/hone skills. I look forward to part 2!
Lyssa,
Congratulations on your new book; information on Coaching Agile Teams was passed around last evening at Agile Richmond.
Bill
Recently took the Certified ScrumMaster class by Lyssa Adkins.
It was a great experience being a student in her class, the atmosphere, the vibe, the class itself and the course material were stunning!
Her sessions are something special, it’s nothing near a dull theoretical display of knowledge but it’s a nicely paced course full of interaction and pro activitity.
Everyone thinking of learning about Scrum, Lyssa should definitely be the source to go to.
The practical excercises Lyssa puts the class through are a must do for everyone who wants to work and learn more about Scrum.
Your book is amazing! I have been anxiously awaiting it’s arrival. I was in a couple of your sessions at Agile 2008. Your “human” approach to agile is amazing. Thank you for the gift of your insight and wisdom.
Lyssa has been my personal mentor and now life coach for the past year. I chose Lyssa initially for her depth of knowledge and her people skills. We started with practical learning, then moved on to major life transformations, and I am so grateful for it. I see in her incredible humility, compassion and ability to tackle the human dynamics of people trying to work together, a rare gem. It excites me that through her book more light is being cast on this treasure within the Agile community.
Congratulations on your book, Lyssa! I get my technical books through Safari Books Online, but I am so going to get this one in print just so I can get your autograph! I am so happy to see you sharing your success in coaching Agile teams with the rest of the world. Good luck!
I have learned so much with all my interactions with Lyssa, from my first view of her youtube videos, through Agile Conference sessions and finally in our own little coaching circle. All I can say is I hope to continue learning from her for the duration! She is truly a harbinger of the radical.
Lyssa ROCKED my world! I’m hard pressed to describe how useful and important my coaching work with her has been. Challenging, heartfelt, effective, an invitation to depth, to clarity and with companionship in the inquiry. I particularly appreciate her skill at being present and transparent about her own process while staying focused on being of service. In case it’s not completely obvious this is a HEARTY recommendation!
Lyssa is an excellent teacher. Having just taken the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) class with her I can honestly say I learned more in 2 days than I have in any 5 day technology class I’ve attended in my long career. She is highly knowledgeable, engaging, and ‘present’ in a way that is hard to describe but most satisfying to experience. Even if you need to travel to take a class with her, do it!
Lyssa is great coach and a mentor and her passion for agile and specifically how coaching and training in agile is a joy to be part of and watch. Her knowledge and belief is agile principles is very deep and I would recommend and it would recommend her scrum master training if you get a chance. Hey “Navigating Conflict/The AWE Factor” keynote at the 2009 ADP conference in Orlando was inspiration and gives a very fresh perspective on how to navigate conflict in any organization. I would recommend Lyssa’s coaching and mentoring services for leaders in any organization that is adopting agile and embracing organizational changes.
I’m ecstatic over how much I got out of Lyssa’s 2-day course. Lyssa’s approach inspired numerous Aha! moments, particularly in the coaching aspects of being a ScrumMaster. I was already practicing XP/Agile, but I was self-taught. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to take the official training as I’m certain it will up my game two-fold, at least. The fact that Lyssa was able to add her unique insights from the coaching angle added that much more.
Lyssa was one of two instructors at a two-day class focused on the role of the Product Owner in Agile with Scrum for employees at AAA Northern CA, NV, UT [formerly CSAA]. The company and I are both new to Agile and Scrum and Lyssa’s in-depth knowledge of the subject matter was helpful in bridging the gap between old and new ways of approaching software software development. Lyssa’s years of working projects using waterfall or Agile methods helped me begin to map the similarities and differences between the two approaches. I also found Lyssa to be one of those rare people who have excellent depth and breadth of knowledge in a subject matter area and are able to teach it well. The training, a combination of teaching the concepts then modeling how they are applied, was among the best I have had. I’m still learning and enhancing my knowledge of the subject matter by following up on links to various sources provided by Lyssa including her own Cricketwing Consulting web site, where her passion for the subject shows and is a useful addition to my Agile with Scrum references. I’d recommend Lyssa to anyone who wants to effectively learn to apply Agile with Scrum methods.
I was the product owner for a website development project for which Lyssa was the team’s agile coach. She also coached an apprentice agile coach for the team. This agile team was formed for the first time when the web development got kicked off. Lyssa has done a great job at laying out a strong foundation to practice agile principles in the team. She had set a great example for the team by being truly open to ideas, pushing the team on creative problem solving and by being transparent. She definitely had put me in the driver’s seat on that project to decide the scope of work handled by the team at any given time. She played a critical role in building this team and in launching the first version of the website. Without her being on the team, it would have been extremely difficult to make it to that first launch on time. In summary Lyssa is a great agile coach. I highly recommend her as the agile coach or coach of agile coaches.
I recently attended Lyssa’s Introduction to Scrum class. Lyssa’s presentation style was dynamic, interactive, and creative. Lyssa’s ability to use her varied and real-life experiences truly brought the material she presented to life. The exercises she utilized expanded on and reinforced the concepts Lyssa covered. After participating in Lyssa’s class, I feel that I have an excellent foundation upon which to build and am excited to incorporate Agile tenets into my projects and to initiate our first Scrum effort.
Lyssa was successful in the role of ‘coach of coaches’ for her recent engagement. Through her guidance of a coach on my team and her advise to me, Lyssa was able to help develop a highly effective SCRUM coach. As a consequence, our coarch was able to guide an already successful process/project team through a step change to high performance team. I’ve seen Lyssa function in a variety of roles during this engagement and a prior engagement … Working with a leadership team in Recoveries that was open to learnings from Agile methods, Lyssa was successful on three levels: (1) coaching a team delivering on a particularly difficult and time-bound IT/ business process redesigning project, (2) guiding customers and stakeholders of the effort to set the team up for success, and (3) influencing leadership to absorb and act on insights that Agile methods exposed during the project outside the boundaries of the team. Overall, the project was a terrific success, delivering critical capabilities more than 50% earlier than projected best case based on detailed phased planning. And, team members, customers, stakeholders and department leadership gained valuable experience; many were converted into Agile advocates by their experience on the project.
Lyssa guided the Compliance organization through our implementation of Scrum, and mentored me as I learned to coach Agile teams. Her sensitivity to people’s needs combined with her ability to quickly comprehend the business environment were vital to the success of the team we stood up together. Lyssa’s clear, simple, value-oriented explanations also helped the teams she worked with to understand and own their own work. Beyond these great tangible results, though, Lyssa has been an agent for positive human change. Her insight has shaped me, and the members of my team, into better, more aware people.
Lyssa was my mentor coach (extraordinaire) for Agile coach certification… She did a particularly good job at helping me through the transition from a traditional project management mindset to an Agile one, not only the paradigm shift that occurred in my own behaviors and expectations, but also that of the organization around me. She helped set me on a track to make the changes needed in our organization that would enable Agile, and me, to succeed.