Mike Griffiths

I am Mike Griffiths, an independent project manager and consultant based Calgary, Alberta. I moved to Canada, with my wife Samantha, in 2001 from England to be close to the Rocky Mountains as we enjoy hiking, mountain biking and snowboarding. We have a young son “Jake”, who has provided a diversion from our mountain adventures this summer, and is lots of fun.

In 1994 I was very fortunate to be involved in the creation of the agile method DSDM and have been using agile methods including FDD, Scrum and XP for the last 13 years. I am a board member of the Agile Alliance and the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN). I started a Calgary Chapter of the APLN in 2006 and enjoy a good turnout at each meeting. Calgary is a real hot-bed of Agile experts and it is great to be able to meet and chat to authorities like Jennitta Andrea, Frank Maurer, Gerard Meszaros, Grigori Melnik, Janet Gregory, Jonathon Kohl, etc in your own town.

In addition to agile methods I am interested and active in traditional project management. I hold PRINCE2 and PMP certifications, am a contributor to the PMBOK v3 Guide and presenter at the PMI Global Congress 2004, 2005 and 2007. I teach a 2 day “Managing Agile Projects” course for the PMI as part of their travelling SeminarsWorld program, that usually generates some good debate.

The PMI and Agile events I attend often vary considerably in format and philosophy, but rather than feeling torn, I believe they are both valid in the appropriate context. However, for the software development projects I have worked on in the last 20 years, the context has suited agile methods more often than traditional methods.

In this blog I would like to share my ideas on leadership and agile project management as well as engaging in conversations with readers. I hope you find this site interesting, and as it grows, a useful resource for leadership and agile project management information.