Scottish Developers

Here is an offer you can’t refuse if you want help doing agile software development projects properly:

Hi everyone,

Just over two years ago I woke up one Monday morning, made my weetabix, took a bite, swallowed and doubled over in agony. By the end of the day I was in
the high dependency ward at The Royal Infirmary dosed out on morphine. I had chronic pancreititis, an illness which has a surprisingly high fatality rate. I was lucky, I survived, but I’m told it was pretty scary.

So what’s this got to do with Agile? Well it turns out that If I hadn’t missed my last two diabetic clinics (due to work travel and complacency) then my GP would have immediately noticed my hugely elevated triglyceride levels; he would have changed my medication and scared me into going to the gym; I would’ve avoided a whole lot of physical pain; and I wouldn’t have scared the **** out of my family and friends.

The treatment, it turns out, is incredibly simple: each day I take 3 capsules of medical strength Omega Three fish oil. So here’s the Agile connection:

Over the last few months I’ve been chatting with a bunch of very seasoned AgileScotlanders and we’ve come to the conclusion that with the addition of just a little bit of (free) expert advice many of the Agile implementations here in Scotland would be HUGELY healthier and happier.

We’re sick of hearing "Agile bad news stories" that could have been easily avoided so …

… each month, from now on, we’re going to run a free day-time "Agile Clinic" in a local coffee shop. We will alternate between Glasgow and Edinburgh and (if there’s demand for it) Dundee and Aberdeen. We’ll be there for 2 hours or so.

If you have an Agile problem you’d like help with then send me an email - [email protected] - quickly describing the problem and I’ll book you in for a 30 - 60 minute "consult" with someone who can *probably* help you out. They’ll "take a blood test" and because they’re experts they’ll usually prescribe some off-the-shelf "medication".

A few things:

• we promise to keep the conversations absolutely confidential;
• no one will never ask for money at these sessions;
• all we ask for, in return, is that - provided you find the clinic useful - then please will you recommend us to your friends, colleagues, bosses and  competitors;
• we won’t ever make a sales pitch to you but you are welcome to hire us or recommend that others do;

Over the next couple of days I’ll send out "bios" of our current stable of "Agile GPs". You probably know of most of them: Rob Lally, Alan Francis, Paul Wilson, Brian Swan and myself. We all specialise in different areas with a bit of overlap. We all know what we’re doing. The first clinic will be NEXT WEEK in either Glasgow or Edinburgh. You get to decide. If you need a little confidential Agile help, or you have a friend who does, then email me now - [email protected] and I’ll get the ball rolling.

Clarke

For more information about Agile Scotland, visit their website.

ADDENDUM: The first appointments will be in Glasgow.