Life Changing Classes for Developers​

Last month I saw an Agile Old-Timer™ post a dismissive message about “2 day certifications.” Part of me understands what they were complaining about. But I also wonder if I should take some offense as a provider of 2 day certifications in Scrum development. The reason I offer that training is the many people out there who need help, know there are experts who can help, and don’t know the inside-baseball landscape of certifying bodies. They don’t necessarily have the ability to distinguish the Life-Changing classes from the warm-body-in-a-seat certification mills.

As someone who has been to a couple of Life Changing classes, I believe I can help others have a similar experience.

Why do I offer a “2 day certification” course? Most people seem to look to Scrum as a means to improve their software delivery. Though in recent years the focus of Scrum has expanded beyond just software solutions. That expansion leaves a large gap between the knowledge a typical Scrum class provides and what your developers need to know in order to frequently deliver high-quality software. One way to bridge that gap is to luck into joining a team that works that way. Another is to find someone who has that experience and can teach your developers to work in that manner.

My class grounds the attendees in the reasons for, and benefits of, iterative development.

The class also introduces them to the technical practices that amplify that style of development.

Will they be masters of agile development after two days? Probably not. What they will have is hands-on experience, with code, in the techniques needed to deliver small, incremental features. Recognizing that this is a starting point, my course also provides references and links for the attendee to continue learning from primary sources, as well as to connect with practitioners in the software crafter community.

What about you? Been to a Life-Changing class? Were you certified through it?