Dave Kirby

I am a coach and consultant for the software industry, working with individuals and software development teams to help them work at peak performance while having more fun and a better work-life balance. I do this primarily through coaching, and also where appropriate I provide consulting and mentoring for companies who wish to introduce agile development methods such as Extreme Programming.

I worked as a software developer for twenty years, and suffered my fair share of deathmarch projects along the way. I have seen teams work well together, and teams that degenerated until they were at each other's throats. I have also had a long standing interest in the behaviour of people and of human systems - I did a degree in Psychology and Cybernetics before I was seduced into the world of commercial programming.

I also have had a life-long interest in personal development, and over the last few years trained as an NLP practitioner and Master Practitioner. I discovered that I had a love of, and talent for, working with other people to help them resolve difficult issues in their lives, so went on to train as a Life Coach.

I have now set up in business as The Developers Coach to combined my knowledge of personal development and team dynamics with my years of experience of software development. My dream is of a world without deathmarch projects, where developers can work together in teams that are effective, efficient, flexible and fun; where the joy of programming is not bludgeoned out of them by impossible schedules and toxic teams; and where software companies get high quality software that does what the users want, in a timescale that the managers want.

I can be contacted at dave@thedeveloperscoach.com

Visit my website www.thedeveloperscoach.com to sign up for my free eZine, "The Agile Life."


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