One of the things that I love about attending Agile 2011 is the rapid-fire exposure to new ideas. In particular, I usually get enough book ideas to fill up my reading list for a good part of the next year. This year, I am certain I will not get to all of these.
I think the most rewarding session I went to at Agile 2011 was Coaching Success: Getting People to Take Responsibility & Demonstrate Ownership by Christopher Avery. There were a number of reasons to attend this session, including a recommendation from a friend based on a session at Agile 2009 and the applicability of the topic as our team becomes more focused on assisting our growing customer base. I didn't enter with a notion of what to expect or exaction what I wanted and this likely put me in the right frame of mind for his introduction to The Responsibility Process.
Summary: An investigation into the conditions that lead to successful individuals and why traditional assumptions about intelligence, personality, and effort are only a part of the picture.
Intended Audience: Widely accessible book for those curious about why some are successful and some are not
Summary: A compendium of short discussions on what you will encounter in an early-stage startup and advice that can help you to handle these situations.
Intended Audience: Anyone involved in startups that is looking for guidance or new ideas
At the end of the last release in December, we had our first FedEx Day with good results. One of the main pieces of feedback received was "Now what?". Some of the things that people had worked on were very solid product ideas but needed more time to complete and integrate into the product.