Speaker Topics - No Fluff Just Stuff
NFJS2025

Creating an Adaptable Life

Change happens to us all the time. Normally, it happens so slowly that we don't particularly notice. Sometimes the change happens so quickly that we do notice.

My life changed in September 2009. With sudden hearing loss and constant vertigo, life became more challenging. I learned to ask for help; to accept that I can’t control everything; to see what's really going on; to see the current state so and to envision where I want to go. I'm adapting how I work, live, and travel so that I can be successful. Things have changed; adapting has allowed me to continue to live, work and enjoy my life.

In whatever way your organization is growing and evolving, your role and activities will change.

Irrespective of your changes, you must adapt to the new challenges. It may be a move to Agile or working with partners and other teams who are adopting new ways of working. For some of you, these changes and challenges may be subtle. For others, such as BAs, PMs , or managers, moving to Agile can feel like a 2 by 4 that connects with your head! How do you adapt to ensure continued success?

I'll discuss change, how you can use it to create an adaptable life, and how you can make choices that can work for you and your organization.


Johanna Rothman

About Johanna Rothman

Johanna Rothman, known as the “Pragmatic Manager,” offers frank advice for your tough problems. She helps leaders and teams learn to see simple and reasonable things that might work. Equipped with that knowledge, they can decide how to adapt their product development.

With her trademark practicality and humor, Johanna is the author of 18 books about many aspects of product development. She’s written these books:

  • Project Lifecycles: How to Reduce Risks, Release Successful Products, and Increase Agility
  • Become a Successful Independent Consultant
  • Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer
  • Modern Management Made Easy series: Practical Ways to Manage Yourself; Practical Ways to Lead and Serve (Manage) Others; Practical Ways to Lead an Innovative Organization
  • Write a Conference Proposal the Conference Wants and Accepts
  • From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams (with Mark Kilby)
  • Create Your Successful Agile Project: Collaborate, Measure, Estimate, Deliver
  • Agile and Lean Program Management: Scaling Collaboration Across the Organization
  • Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects, 2nd edition
  • Project Portfolio Tips: Twelve Ideas for Focusing on the Work You Need to Start & Finish
  • Diving for Hidden Treasures: Finding the Value in Your Project Portfolio (with Jutta Eckstein)
  • Predicting the Unpredictable: Pragmatic Approaches to Estimating Project Schedule or Cost
  • Manage Your Job Search
  • Hiring Geeks That Fit
  • The 2008 Jolt Productivity award-winning Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management
  • Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management (with Esther Derby)

In addition to articles and columns on various sites, Johanna writes the Managing Product Development blog on her website, jrothman.com, as well as a personal blog on createadaptablelife.com.

More About Johanna »