My Journey Into Agile - Part One

Since we work in a very virtual world, I thought it would be good to share the more personal side of me, Indra Aimée Books, apart from my work as the founder and CEO of Agility for All. I use my middle initial in my name because there is a bookstore with my name (and well, with my last name... what could possibly go wrong?). Also, yes. I really am 6’0” (183cm) tall. It is amazing how many people question that.

I wouldn’t be successful at what I do without the vast variety of experiences that have led me to where I am today. I was born in the U.S., and spent 20 years in Washington, D.C. I started working at age 12 in my family’s business, doing office work and bookkeeping. I haven’t stopped working since. 

Following a short career as a teacher, I took those skills on the road to work in the tech sector, helping teams develop and grow. There are some stories there for sure. My mother used to say that my sister and I always had our passports with us because we never knew when we might need to go somewhere. She was right. I’ve worked in over 46 countries. Currently, I’m based in Spain, where I moved to in 2018 for a lifestyle change.

Growing up, I lived in a house with a used bookstore that my mom ran. It was amazing having a never ending supply of books to read. I played classical bassoon semi-professionally, before having hand surgery that ended my aspirations. Hand surgery didn’t stop me from pursuing my other “handy” interests though - I love upcycling furniture that would otherwise go in the landfill. My biggest project to date was recycling a baby grand piano into a cocktail bar. 

All this to say, having a wide range of interests helped me understand people better. My team in the U.S. called me “Boss Lady” as a joke, because I was the exact opposite of that image. They even got me a name plate for my desk in my remote office here in Spain, where it has pride of place. 

THERE’S A NAME FOR THAT THING

I have worked in many industries in both the private and public sectors in my career. I was known for getting in, fixing the issues, and getting out. But I didn’t realise that all of the practical skills that I was imparting to others had an actual formal name to it - Agile. So I kept learning, and kept working to bring the Agile mindset into more and more organisations in a meaningful way.

Intentional and deliberate - these are two words that you will hear me use a lot. I firmly believe that decisions shouldn’t be made off the cuff, but rather with intention and deliberation. The main focus should be on the pain points and having a clear understanding of the problem that you are trying to solve. You can often hear me saying things like “I don’t care what you call it, what do you want to achieve?” I truly do believe this. Which is why I greenlit our Beyond the Buzzword series, which tackles a lot of the myths and misuse of industry terms. 

Coaches don’t go into the field and play with the team. I believe in giving the teams I coach the skills and insights necessary to become truly high-performing. No long engagements, no boring PowerPoint presentations that nobody bothers to really read. 

This very fact alone is a perfect example of the flexible nature of what we do at Agility for All. It is not about buzzwords, enforced, stringent models and frameworks, or defined processes. It’s really about finding the best solution for the problems that we are trying to solve.

Learn more about the work that we do and the programs that we offer. Set up a call to start planning how you want to change the culture of your organization.

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INDRA A. BOOKS

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