Changing the World of Work

Conference Video

Watch the video here: https://www.infoq.com/presentations/agile-development-conference

Abstract

Fearless change is about making a difference. In 2002 Todd happened upon an opportunity to make a difference. He met Alistair Cockburn at a conference and learned that Alistair had plans to start an Agile Development Conference. During the conversation, Todd and Alistair came to the realization that this wasn’t just another conference, this was about building a community and changing the world of work.

Todd had some experience running internal conferences at his company and he and Alistair teamed up to deliver the first conference run by the Agile Alliance. The challenges were significant including multiple stakeholders with different objectives. There was a lot of enthusiasm, but the stakeholders had not had not run a conference of this scale. There was also a lot of uncertainty, and that uncertainty created significant tension. Todd leveraged his experience running an internal conference to bring the stakeholders together towards a unified purpose.

That first conference was a huge success doing a bit better than break even financially, but creating a significant buzz and positive experience setting the path for the future. Todd ran the conference for the next 3 years growing the event from 275 attendees to over 1100. Now, 15 years later, the event sells out at 2500 and the agile movement is changing the world of work.

About Todd

Todd Little is Vice President of Product Development for IHS, a leading global provider of information, analytics, and expertise. He has been involved in most aspects of software development with a focus on commercial software applications for oil and gas exploration and production.

He is a co-author of the Declaration of Interdependence for Agile Leadership and a founding member and past President of the Agile Leadership Network. He has served on the Board of Directors of both the Agile Alliance and the Agile Leadership Network.

Todd is a co-author of the book “Stand Back and Deliver: Accelerating Business Agility,” Addison Wesley. Todd has written several articles for IEEE Software and posts all his publications and presentations on his website www.toddlittleweb.com.