My name is Bonnie Davison and I joined Blue Agility in February 2014 as an Agile Coach. I’ve worked in the software industry for over 16 years with the last 10 years at two very different software companies as a Project Manager. I’ve worked with a large number of co-located and distributed teams using scrum, Scrum-a-fall, Wagile, Scaled Agile Framework™, Big Information Visual Radiator, Kanban, and usually with some combination of more than one of these.
Recently I attended a SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) class, at the end of which I took an exam to be SPC certified. I came to three interesting conclusions while thinking about my experiences surrounding the (SPC) class. One, people and human interactions fascinate me. Two, SAFe™ contains so many levels and layers that I am very glad to have been exposed to it before the class. Three, being an Agile Coach is my dream job.
My adventure begins
This class was from Friday to Sunday with the exam on Monday. Let’s start at the beginning of my weekend.
You are about to walk into a room full of people that you don’t know, in a city you’ve never been to, and your cab driver circled the building for the last ten minutes because he couldn’t find the entrance and didn’t want to drop you off so you can “find it” yourself. Lying ahead of you is 3 days of intense learning at the end of which you will take a certification exam that you feel is critical to successfully doing your job.
How do you feel?
Nervous? Anxious? Excited? Confident?
I’ve left something, err, someone out. Next to you is your coworker, that you have met, who has taken the certification exam and passed! Do you feel differently in this scenario? I certainly do. Voicing my thoughts and feelings out loud and thus acknowledging them to another person relieves a large amount of my anxiety about the class, the exam and the unknowns this weekend holds. Suffice it to say, that we did a lot of laughing at the situation and ourselves during that cab ride.
The class
The weekend is a complete blur of people, discussions and content.
Prior to the class I had 5 years of Scrum/Agile, 3 years of SAFe™ experience and Release Train Engineer (RTE) for 18 of those months (certified SAFe Practitioner). Knowing and working with several SAFe™ release trains prior to the class was very helpful for the team and RTE sections of content. I was able to focus more on the other aspects of the program and portfolio layers. I definitely learned new things and some previously introduced concepts finally clicked.
The People
The class participants were a mix of coworkers and non-coworkers, two instructors and a few visitors. Those of us not SPC certified were split between 3 tables with 4 people at each table. Each table was a team that worked together (sometimes not very well) for the duration of the class. With this seating arrangement it was easier to transition from coursework to team/group exercises.
I really enjoyed getting to know my team and my coworkers better over the four days. Most of us went out to dinner together at the end of each day. I find getting to know people outside of work in social situations leads to better communication inside of work. That, and people really open up around a dinner table.
The Exercises
The exercises stand out the most to me as learning experiences in how to teach, how to coach, and to really think about how and why I react to situations under stress. The first day went very well for my team.
We were rockstars! Can you tell where this is going? Day 2 we fell apart. Not literally of course. Why did we fall apart? Was it our personalities, the exercise itself, the time-boxed nature of exercises in a class setting? At some point during our “breakdown” I took a moment to look at my team, removing myself from the equation to see them as individuals and where they are coming from in this particular exercise. This helped me to not take things personally, as I tend to do when I’m tired, overwhelmed, and think I know everything.
The instructors
Our instructors, one with SAI and one with Blue Agility, took turns at the front of the room, dividing the content and talking time. The one not in front of the room was at the back of the room piping in with stories and additional information, as needed. There are a number of great class conversations and a few that go down a rabbit hole (off topic or to the point that we agree to disagree). Overall they did a great job of keeping us on task and reviewing the content most relevant to the exam while interjecting real world situational recommendations for SAFe™ implementation and teaching.
Pausing to brag about Blue Agility, we are one of seven certified SAFe Program Consultant Trainer’s (SPCT). Only SAI Gold Partners are eligible for the program, and all SPCT service delivery must be under the auspices of the partner entity, brand, and quality promise.
Exam time
Let me say that I was very nervous going into the exam and even more nervous about passing after I had completed the exam. I should note that their are pre-requisites for SPC and Scaled Agile, Inc. (SAI) doesn’t require you to prove that you have met all the pre-requisites. One was “one or more relevant Agile certifications,” which I didn’t have. Having all three pre-requisites will help you on the exam.
Our instructors went over the exam rules and several things to note. I misunderstood one of them and as a result made a major mistake in answering some of the questions. Waiting 3 to 10 days for the results was agony. I tried to put it out of my mind, knowing that I could retake the exam if needed and did my best to focus on other things during the waiting period.
The results
Dun-dun-dun. I passed! If only you could see me doing the Snoopy Dance. What a relief. The teasing and taunted from my coworkers would have been tolerated and piled on very thickly. I cringe just thinking about it.
Reflecting on this weekend resulted in a light bulb igniting brightly with the realization that I’m living my dream job. Be careful what you put out in the universe; it might just come true.
Scaled Agile Gold Partner
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