Who is Javier Perez?

One of the three Licensed Guides who have recently joined forces with Agile Mastery Institute, Javier Perez is a Spaniard who has recently moved back from Germany. As well as having helped translate Scrum Mastery into Spanish, here’s a little insight into Javi.

What’s your favourite agile principle?

I think all the principles are important, but if I had to choose only one, it would be number twelve: become more effective by tuning and adjusting its behaviour at regular intervals. I think that based on this principle, a team working on complex problems would naturally come to implement the other 11 principles.

What’s your favourite (agile) memory?

When I had the opportunity to work with Mike Freislich at a client in Bangalore. It seemed like a joke: a South African and a Spaniard based in Germany were willing to accompany a Hindu organisation whose European mother declared it almost impossible for them to work according to the agile manifesto….. As it turned out, it was not only the Hindus who changed things, but above all the Europeans.

What’s your superpower?

I believe I am humble enough to be quiet and to listen, not only to the meaning of the words but also to the intentions of my interlocutor. This enables me on many occasions to have much more focused conversations than the coachees find useful.

What’s your kryptonite?

I think that sometimes I am too persistent on an idea and I forget that in addition to the way I perceive the world, there are infinite ways of interpreting it. And all of them are legitimate.

If agile wasn’t a thing, what would you do for a career?

Well, I was a software developer before I became a scrum master… But I think if I hadn’t discovered agile I would have pivoted and done something to do with psychology or philosophy. Maybe I would have ended up being some kind of coach other than an agile coach.

What attracted you to Agile Mastery Institute?

When I started as a Scrum Master, I found myself very lonely trying to become a good Scrum Master. I had to do a lot of research to become better… It was a tough time because I had no one to guide me. That is one of the reasons why I am focusing on growing better coaches. I believe that AMI shares with me the way to achieve this, not only through training but also by accompanying the whole journey of growing a scrum master or a product owner.

Share a photo from your phone

This is how my 11 years old nephew sees me… Definitely, he is more talented at drawing than what I was at his age. Maybe even now 🙂