Who is Kevin Shine?
Here is what Karen has to say about Kevin. I met Kevin many years ago through the Scrum User Group. He was just getting started with Scrum at a grass roots level in his team at PruProtect. He had some challenges with management buy in. Fast forward several years and Scrum is now much more visible and talked about, not just at PruProtect but the whole Discovery group. Several teams are doing Scrum and there is a lot of organisational buy in. Kevin’s tenacity and staying power really impress me, definitely great attributes for a ScrumMaster!
What is something people usually don’t know about you but has influenced you in who you are?
I guess people may not know that I spent most of my career as a Java developer. I think this has influenced who I am today, because I saw many things that needed to be improved for developers to do their best work and I decided to be that change.
What would have become of you, if you were not doing the job you do today?
I would probably have ended up being a photographer. I love photography. I may still do that, who knows.
What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?
Change management is my biggest challenge. Adopting agile isn’t simply about following a framework, there is so much to learn about why it works, how it works and also how to help people change. It sure has increased my reading list. Understanding change management and knowing how to best apply change is what I find my biggest challenge is currently. Its important to learn how to make change stick, agile books touch on this but the topic is huge. I enjoy a challenge because its an opportunity to learn and grow and maybe find out something new about yourself.
What drives you?
Seeing teams and people succeed, helping them deliver work that they are proud of that delights customers.
What is your biggest achievement?
I guess the fact that the company I am working at now(PruProtect) has moved to agile and has agreed that waterfall is definitely not the way to build software. Agile is now commonly accepted and people are learning and improving every day. Taking a company from waterfall to scrum is a big achievement, but I have to give the credit back to the people that made the change. I am proud of the work we have all done together. We have built an amazing company and its only getting better.
Is there a piece of music that has a special meaning for you?
Nope nothing I can think of off the top of my head. If I had to answer I would say “La Fway” by Beyoncé
What is the last book you have read?
Agile portfolio management - Jochen Krebs
What question do you think we should also ask and what is the answer?
As far as your agile journey goes, where do you see yourself in 2 years from now? Certified agile coach and/or Trainer.
Whom do you think we should ask next in South Africa?
Whom do you think we should ask next, not in South Africa?
How would you define your relation to the South African Agile community?
Committed, but I would love to do more. I try and help out as and when I can with SUGSA. Its not always easy to find time, but it is always fun. :-)
Johannesburg, October 2013
How to connect with Kevin
Twitter: @kev_shine
Linked In: za.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-shine/12/b33/7b4