Fifty!

I’m celebrating my 50th birthday today! It doesn’t seem possible, but I’ve lived a half a century already...

I was a kid when the original Star Trek series aired on TV. My parents took me and my brother to the Cinerama airing of 2001: A Space Odyssey – but I wasn’t quite old enough to appreciate it. I also remember my parents waking me up to watch Neil Armstrong step out onto the lunar surface.

I grew up fascinated by science fiction and the space age. My father was an electronics technician, and between my own interests and his technology background, I guess it was only natural that I found myself seeking out a computer career. (O.K., I also wanted to be an astronaut and explore the stars – or at least the planets. But we haven’t even gone back to the moon lately, let alone Mars. Not that I would have made the astronaut program anyway, the competition is WAY too stiff!)

The technology changes over the years have been tremendous, and I’m glad that I’ve played a small part in implementing and developing technology solutions during my career. Keeping up with technology and the changing approaches to software development and management have been demanding and satisfying, and I’m still plugging away!

Professionally speaking, I’m a seasoned dog still trying to learn new tricks. For example, I published a free app for the Andriod phone this past year to test the mobile app waters. (A few people ran into problems early on, but I believe these are corrected.) This wasn’t a big deal, just something simple– and hopefully an amusement for those who download it – to give me a feel for what mobile application development is all about.

Recently I’ve made the move from being a development manager to a product manager. Over the years I’ve worked hard to learn and improve my game as a developer and a development manager, including getting up to speed on Agile development. I’m sure that full-time product management will continue to provide with plenty of new challenges. (I've had plenty already!)

I started blogging a few years ago because I enjoy writing, and blogging about Agile leadership provides me with two benefits:

1. It exercises and hones (hopefully) my writing skills.
2. It keeps me in a continuous professional development cycle.

Writing is another career option I considered in my youth, although my thinking at the time was to be a science fiction writer. It was the next-best thing to being an actual astronaut, and maybe even better. After all, there are no limits to the adventures that are the product of your imagination. Perhaps I’ll move in that direction with my writing someday…

In the meantime, I’m enjoying my blogging experience and I’ve managed to publish some magazine articles along with writing a monthly column for a local newspaper (profiling residents and giving them their 15 minutes of fame). I intend to keep thinking and writing about Agile leadership and software, learning and sharing as I go. I hope that you enjoy the experience with me.