John Babich is an experienced project manager, who began his three-decade IT career as an IBM System/370 Assembly Language programmer. He continued... Read More
John Babich is an experienced project manager, who began his three-decade IT career as an IBM System/370 Assembly Language programmer. He continued as a mainframe COBOL applications developer until he became an early promoter and expert in implementing local area networks. This led him into LAN/WAN data communications, culminating in a decade working internationally in fixed and mobile telecommunications.
A turning point for John was his time being mentored by a true SDLC project manager, who balanced a deep understanding of human nature with a firm grasp of the project management body of knowledge. He saw that one could be a compassionate human being and still manage complex software projects in a professional and effective manner. This led him to become a Project Management Professional (PMP).
Another turning point was John's participation in the Fedora Project, a community Linux distribution sponsored by Red Hat. The Fedora Project practices many of the best Agile principles without necessarily labeling them as such: timeboxing, self-organizing teams, emphasizing working code, meritocracy, extensive use of automated tools, and respect for the humanity of all community members.
Finally, John had an opportunity to serve as an Agile coach for several projects, where he saw the value of the Scrum framework first-hand. When the opportunity arose, he became a Certified Scrum Master (CSM). John hopes to pursue his journey of continuous improvement, while striving to be a servant leader in his chosen profession.
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