Meet The Coach: Lukas Klose

For our Meet the Coach series, we asked a few questions to Lukas Klose, the latest addition to our team of coaches in Canada.

You worked in different companies and projects before joining agile42 as a coach. What is your path and do you see a common thread leading to Agile?

When I I was eleven or twelve years old I started coding. By the time I was 21 I was working for a stock exchange data broadcast startup as a programmer. A few more years later I started doing more and more project management, building web sites at Electronic Arts. Originally waterfall we turned the 75 head team into agile, and that is when I saw the light. I approached agile42 to start coaching, and so here I am today. I am super excited, and think I found my dream job, both because I am really excited about helping individuals and teams to perform at a high level, and also because I love interacting with people.

I will say that I believe there is not a single project that could/should not be done in an agile way. I think the earth & universe was created agile, and our lives are agile from the day we start learning to walk.

Do you have a favorite recommendation for the teams you coach?

I keep thinking of this quote: “It is easier to redirect a river than to create one” - I think this is a very important realization, and so translating it into the coaching context, it is something that Dave Sharrock does really well: just get the teams going. Once they are going, you can then adjust their processes. While they don't go, there is nothing you can adjust.

What have you seen or read recently that caught your attention?

At the Orlando scrum gathering we had an open space about a school that is going all agile. I have two boys in grade 2 & 3, and I keep day dreaming about how much better their world would be if schools would deliver content in an agile way. We named the open space “Set our kids free from waterfall”. I think this has an enormous amount of potential.