Biography
Brand Zietsman
I started my career as a Mechanical Engineer and after a couple of years moved to the world of software development in 1998. The only common thread, the reason I studied engineering, is the act of "making" or "creating" something new. The initial focus of my software work was process related, helping others to "make". I came to value people more than process through this work. I was introduced to Scrum in 2007 by a colleague and became a CSM in 2010.
The authors and coaches that have the biggest influence on my thinking are Peter Hundermark in terms of general guidance with Scrum; Stephen Denning and Mary Poppendieck in terms of how they reframe management; Eric Ries in terms thinking about the product lifecycle; Roman Pichler in terms of defining products and Tobias Mayer in terms of his focus on people.
I have introduced Scrum to a number of companies. The first while still wearing a Project Manager title and one as a Head of Development. Through this work I came to value the change in culture that is often required by an organisation to succeed with Scrum and other Agile practices.
I am passionate about learning through involvement in the community and have introduced countless colleagues to the Regional Scrum User Group.
I believe that Scrum is one of the most human friendly systems of working. It enables happier human beings to be more creative and to deliver greater value to the organisations that they work with.
Work experience
IQ Business, Agile Consultant
February 2016 - Present, Johannesburg, Gauteng, ZA
I work as a consultant to organizations that need support in their growth towards business agility.
MiWay Insurance Ltd, Head of Development
July 2012 - January 2016, Midrand, Gauteng
I am the Head of Development at MiWay. The team was initially small and I introduced MiWay to Scrum. I initially fulfilled a Scrum Master role for two Scrum Teams. The development team has grown significantly under my guidance and now houses 6 Scrum Teams and a Maintenance Team utilizing Kanban. I fulfill a coaching role to the 3 Scrum Masters and my focus has shifted to the larger organisation to help enable the delivery of business value.
IQ Business, Scrum Master/Coach
January 2012 - June 2012, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
I fulfilled a Scrum Master role for a Scrum Enterprise Transformation team, working in 2 week sprint to change the IQ Business Technology Practice from a waterfall organisation to a Scrum organisation. I was Scrum Master for the Business Brain team, a knowledge management system.
In this role I helped to create and present the first internal Scrum Boot camps at IQ Business and later to an external client. The client boot camp was followed by a 6 week onsite coaching engagement. I coach 2 new Scrum Masters and teams for a period of 6 weeks.
IQ Business, Project Manager
September 2010 - January 2012, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
I fulfilled a Software Project Management role , working at two of the major banks in South Africa. The projects included a Home Loan application processing platform, Point of Sale banking and a tender response to a government grant payment system requirement.
3fifteen, Project Manager/Program Manager
May 2003 - August 2010, Johanneburg, Gauteng, South Africa
I worked as a Project Manager and later as a Program Manager. Initially utilizing PMBOK and waterfall methods to deliver software projects. In 2007 a colleague introduced me to Scrum. I started to utilizing Sprints (Sprint Planning, Stand-ups, Reviews and Retros) in the build cycle of waterfall projects, using status meetings as Sprint Reviews.
In a program manager capacity I promoted Scrum across the organisation and it was adopted for specific client engagements.