Dedicated Agilist at heart

Dennis has been passionate about software (and product) development since he sold his first software product at the age of 17 – that was 30 years ago (yes, he's got plenty of experience). Over the years, he's worn various hats, including Architect, Team Lead, Developer, and Product Manager, successfully improving software development practices. Eventually, he transitioned into the roles of consultant and coach.

One of Dennis's most significant accomplishments is leveraging Agile methodologies to deliver tangible results. He's seen firsthand how Agile can significantly boost team productivity and outcomes – a North Star he's committed to helping others reach. Dennis firmly believes that everyone deserves a fulfilling work experience, just as he's been fortunate to have in his career.

Open-minded, outgoing, and a dedicated Agilist since his introduction to XP and Scrum many years ago, Dennis can hardly believe it's been almost two decades in this field alone.

In addition to his work with companies, Dennis actively participates in national and international conferences, organizing events, serving on program committees, giving talks, and conducting reviews. He's deeply involved in the Agile community, including the Scrum Alliance and its German-speaking chapter, the Kanban Community, and the Kanban University, as well as the Scaled Agile Framework. Dennis holds numerous certifications from these organizations, but more importantly, he brings extensive real-world experience to these areas.

Today, he serves as an end-to-end consultant, helping teams, leaders, and organizations discover and unlock their full potential. His expertise spans a wide range of topics, from cutting-edge concepts like #NoEstimates, Beyond Budgeting, Enterprise Services Planning, OKRs, and Strategy Development to classic methodologies like Scrum, Kanban, and Clean Code.

Dennis can be reached at *dennis.wagner@dwcg-consulting.de*.

15+ years experience in software engineering, working as a senior consultant, software designer/architect, technical product manager as well as management positions.

Oliver Finker is an Austrian systems analyst and versatile software practitioner with almost 15 years of experience covering project management, development using Agile methods and team leadership. After a brief stint with Siemens, he discarded traditional Command & Control thinking and helped with the development of several German top-20 websites in the fields of sports and general journalism, always trying to see the products with the customer's eyes; focusing on what creates value for the customer eventually led him to Lean and Kanban. In the past years, he facilitated change as leader of software development at a German publishing company and introduced the Kanban method.

I'm working in the software development since 1990, when I started to do this with Assembler and CICS for the IBM Host. Later on I got many experiences in projectmanagement, methods, tools and other useful things and I'm actually managing the software development for the ergodirekt-insurance in Nuremberg.

Today I'm a fan of agile working and therefore convinced, that this is the only way to change the old habits sustainably and help us successfully in managing our future.

,Little by little one travels far'

Tolkien

I’ve been wandering around the IT industry in various roles and looking after different disciplines of the IT value chain for more than 25 years. I’ve worked with many companies of all sizes, met so many people and experienced so many things. I made lots of mistakes but had enormous learnings from those. Life lessons learning plus some theoretical background plus reasonable observation skills and finally the ability to objectively judge is what I try to apply while developing solutions for my clients. Understanding the requirements and translating those into solutions by facilitating the conversation of the involved people!Often I feel like being the most curious person in the world. I’ve experienced all the excitement but also all the downsides of my curiosity. And I’m still doing. Digging into the problems intrigued by the ambition to IMPROVE: Experiencing, reflecting, analysing, innovating and creating solutions for human beings and companies is what I do!I believe in human beings more than I believe in technology. Technology is only the result of human beings work. Hence, I’m convinced that human beings need to be treated ‘better’ than the technology. Relationships between human beings are the CORE for what we’re doing and creating on this planet. The healthier our relationships, the better and more successful we become! However success is defined, whether in business or private life! One aspect of relationships is Communication. Communication determines a major part of the quality of a relationship. The better we ensure that others understand what we want them to understand, the better we collaborate and cooperate. Having said that, Communication needs to be honest, open, appreciative and respectful. Finally, the more successful we are. I really believe in that!I’m a social media addict. I love to write and to post it. Also, I’m a big fan of good quotes and like to recite those quotes. But only if they’re REALLY GOOD! And retweeting! My goodness I find so much interesting stuff which I retweet all the time. But it has to be in a context that I stand for or that I’m really interested in. My main interests are Innovation, Leadership, Change, Agile, Lean, Communication, Strategy, Culture, Human Beings and Skiing. Skiing because that is the only time when I’m not thinking at all as I do have to focus so intense. For me, Skiing is the greatest way to recreate!I don’t think we have to accept and take everything that’s called an INNOVATION. However, meaningful innovation is highly important and helpful in its result. The best results are usually achieved by collecting and digesting the thoughts and ideas of as many people as possible. THE COLLECTIVE BRAIN! For many people and organisations this way of working requires a huge Change in Mind and Culture. But only with that it’s possible to Change and Improve and to have a better culture, better people and better systems. I love helping them to getting there.The term is quite stressed but finally I like to live and work the “Agile” way. There can be so much overhead in our daily lives and I’m really keen to get rid of it, to focus on what’s important and necessary. Yes, I’d like to drive a fast car but would I live for it? Probably, but then it is so important to me that i do without other stuff.That’s my mission!

Software-Entwickler => Teamleiter => Manager. Passionierter Agilist.

Agile and creative mind always seeking for new trends, nice people and good Sushi.