I "stumbled upon" Scrum after spending time as a new IT Project Manager in a big company (IT workforce of 5,000+ people.)  I read about Scrum in magazines and online and thus began an adventure/journey in early 2004 of exploration and discovery of a meaningful way of working.  Our company is pretty stoic and traditional and operates in a rather conservative industry (insurance and financial services.)  When I approached Ken Schwaber about using Scrum in January 2004, he invited me to attend CSM training.  Excellent idea, except that project on which we would apply Scrum launched and I couldn't get away.  Ken's answer - "read the book that I and [Mike] Beedle wrote and apply the concepts.  And let me know how it goes."  I did just that.  Now, over 4 years later, our IT organization is in the midst of adopting Scrum and other agile practices, and embarking on its own journey of continuous improvement.  Will it ever get "all the way there??"  I don't know (the journey never ends, I bet.)  But, it sure is a lot more fun and rewarding, and a lot less frustrating, to work on and with projects, now.  And, moreover, our teams are enjoying this way of doing work much more!

I came to our Systems department in 2001 with 25 years of business background, so I can appreciate a Product Owner's challenges and responsibilities.  I have found that I can provide value as a ScrumMaster in many ways through servant leadership, teaching and coaching.  I enjoy working with and around technology, and working with bright, fun, motivated and interesting people.  I get the chance to do that every day now.

Outside of work, I teach scuba diving and trave to scuba dive, officiate high school football, ride my recumbent bike to work and elsewhere, and enjoy my family of 3 daughters (Lindsey 5 yrs, Kristen 3 yrs, and Amanda 1 year) and my great wife, Maryann.