About

I am an experienced coach, mentor, and manager; with an excellent track record in helping teams and companies improve by optimising the way they work. Although my focus is on software development, the techniques I use are applicable to many different domains.

My specialty is Agile/Lean software development. I’m Europe’s first Certified Scrum Trainer, as well as one of Europe’s leading experts on eXtreme Programming. Since the late 1990’s, I’ve studied how and why Agile processes work, and I develop and use leading-edge techniques grounded in social complexity science and psychology in my work. I also teach these techniques, and have presented at many conferences, acquainting the software community with the Cynefin framework, self-organising systems theory, and other complexity-based ideas. I’ve published peer-reviewed papers and articles, and occasionally - ok, rarely - post to a blog I maintain here.

My focus on the human side of organisational transformation, together with my belief in life-long learning, has taken me back to university, where I am currently pursuing a PhD in psychology.

I like doing the difficult stuff, taking on challenges that others can’t or won’t. Although I enjoy coaching, I prefer longer-term engagements in interim management. This gives me the time to take responsibility and make real changes. If your company just wants to jump on the bandwagon and do “me too” Agile/Lean, you can find enough people to assist you. If your situation is unique and challenging, though, feel free to get in touch with me. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to help.

Email: jpelrine@metaprog.com