Recapping 2009 at Agile For All

Was 2009 a good year or a bad year for you?  I have to admit it was a good year for Agile For All.  We hit almost every goal we set.  We far exceeded some of them.  On a few we came up short, but like a good agile team we made sure those were the ones of lowest overall value.  If during 2010 we have similar performance in relation to our goals then we will be very satisfied.  We were responsive to our clients and we definitely were Making Agile a Reality^® for them.  We met our company mission while living our principles and values every day.  It has been satisfying to see our clients become successful, but it has been even more satisfying seeing them recommend us to other companies and friends.  For those opportunities I want to take a moment and thank all of our clients.  Without you our company value of being sustainable wouldn’t be possible!

2009 Facts

• Over 500 people trained
• Presentations at 9 different conferences, workshops, seminars or user groups
• New high point in charitable giving
• Created the Agile Cooperative
• Used Agile Cooperative member companies to deliver 11 different courses for clients
• Agile Cooperative member companies also delivered over 70 coaching days for clients
• Published more than 75 blog entries
• Over 600 followers on Twitter
• Blog chosen to be on Alltop.com
• 10X increase in website hits over 2008 average
• 3X number of available courses
• 15 scores of 11 out of 10 on course evaluations, 1 score of 12 out of 10
• Average evaluation score above 90% 10 in all areas
• 86% of clients did repeat business for new teams
• 2010 confirmed business already equals over 31% of 2009 total revenue

It was also a good year for me personally.  Those of you who know me well know the joke about my nickname.  I was called Agile Bob during 2008 but I wasn’t very agile at all.  My left hip had degenerative osteoarthritis which was so bad it caused me to have to use a cane to get around late in the year.  On December 9, 2008 I had hip replacement surgery which I wrote about here and here.  It has now been over a year and I can definitely say the surgery was successful beyond my wildest dreams.  I did not do any traveling until March in order to give myself a big buffer for recovery.  Before the surgery I was told I could travel in early February, but I gave myself an extra month.  Then I started traveling – a lot!  I have almost 70,000 miles on United Airlines and with some random flights on other airlines I probably have 75,000 total miles in 2009.  I don’t mind the miles at all.  I really like what I do.  What I like even more is I was able to be on all those flights with no medical issues.  No cane, no pain medicines, no problems at all.  The only issue is the extra few minutes it takes me to get through the airport security checkpoints because the artificial hip triggers the metal detectors.  I am now an old pro at that and it really is no big deal any more. Of course I’m writing this without having flown since the joker tried to blow up a plane on Christmas!  I guess I’ll revisit whether it is a problem or not next week when I travel to Boston!

The new hip also allowed me to play golf reasonably well again.  For years my handicap had been increasing and during the summer of 2009 I was able to get it down to single digits for the first time in 6 years.  I also am able to ride a bicycle without fear of pain or locking up my hip joint.  I’m looking forward to doing much more of both of golf and bicycle riding in 2010.

On the business front I was able to become a Certified Scrum Coach (one of only 22 in the world last time I counted).  Being part of that elite fraternity has been humbling as well as enlightening.

Lastly, the people I met during 2009 were just amazing.  I’ve been very blessed personally during 2009 in ways I never would have imagined.

Until next time (which will be tomorrow) I will not be Making Agile a Reality because I’ll be taking a break for a few days.  Yes, you’ll read a blog entry tomorrow, but it is already written and scheduled to just magically appear online.  The power of automation at work!  I hope all of you have a safe and Happy New Year.  Please don’t drink and drive!  Pay it forward and do something nice for someone so you can both start 2010 feeling great!