Pete Behrens
Pacific Northwest Software Symposium
Seattle · September 21 - 23, 2007
Founder/CEO @ Agile Leadership Journey
Pete Behrens didn't set out to become a leadership expert. His professional journey began as an engineer, solving technical problems, but life had other plans. Over three decades, Pete has evolved from individual contributor to technical leader to business executive and organizational coach, learning that the most complex challenges aren't technical; they're human.
As Founder and CEO of Agile Leadership Journey, Pete has dedicated his career to helping leaders navigate uncertainty with courage and authenticity. He believes that leadership isn't about having all the answers; it's about having the humility to ask better questions and the courage to step forward when the path isn't clear.
Pete’s debut book, “Into the Fog: Leadership Stories from the Edge of Uncertainty,” captures decades of leadership wisdom through compelling real-world stories. The book reveals how authentic leadership emerges not in moments of clarity, but in the uncertainty of everyday challenges–what Pete calls “the Fog.”
An influential speaker, Pete has shared his insights at various global conferences and hosts the Relearning Leadership™ podcast, where he engages with industry experts and leaders to explore the evolving landscape of leadership and organizational development.
Presentations
Agile Requirements with User Stories
User Stories, a key practice from Extreme Programming, provide a right-sized solution to more efficiently identify, track and implement product requirements. Learn how identify, write and decompose “good” user stories that drive agile behavior and business value.
Agile Estimating, Planning and Tracking: Part I
Business leaders and stakeholders require accountability and accuracy in our software release projections and yet, as an industry, we have failed. However, many of these same leaders are not convinced that agile is any more than an excuse to avoid projections at all. While it is true that agility provides the framework to support change, it doesn't mean you can't provide accurate projections. In fact, a well-executed agile process actually provides more accurate results with less time investment than traditional methods. This session will demonstrate these agile project management techniques to manage 6-12 month projects.
This session focuses on the release level, followed by Part II which focuses on the sprint level.
Agile Estimating, Planning and Tracking: Part II
This session continues the discussion from Part I on Agile Estimating, Planning and Tracking focusing on the sprint (or iteration) level rather than the release level. The sprint cycle is the heartbeat of an agile process. Running smoothly and efficiently it drives incredibly productive teams and high-quality solutions. Yet, so often it feels unhealthy and arrhythmic.
This session will provide the characteristics of a heathly sprint heartbeat and demonstrate the key components required to keep it running that way.
A Scrum Experience
Scrum is a very easy agile framework to understand, but is very difficult in practice. Why is that?
For one, Scrum requires compressing an entire software lifecycle into very short time increments of 2-4 weeks in length. It requires cross-functional team commitment, discipline, communication, and collaboration to accomplish their goals. These changes are difficult and often expose organizational and environmental issues that must be addressed for the team to be successful.
This session brings focus to the Scrum heartbeat - the sprint. After a brief introduction of the Scrum framework and a focus on the sprint, we will be taking an experiential hands-on journey through a full sprint with your newly formed team.