The Agile Jedi: Stoic Principles for Complex Engineering Problems

Software teams face constant pressure. Deadlines, unclear requirements, failing integrations, and fast-changing priorities create noise that can slow down even experienced engineers. This talk introduces a practical way to stay focused and make clear decisions by combining engineering practice, Scrum values, and Stoic principles. You will see how calm reasoning, clear responsibility, and controlled reactions help teams solve difficult problems without escalating stress. The session includes examples from real development work. Legacy code cleanups, performance firefighting, and cross-team communication serve as the basis for simple tools you can apply immediately. Attendees leave with a mindset and set of habits that improve daily engineering work and strengthen collaboration.

Systems Thinking for Performance: How to Diagnose and Fix Slow Systems without Guessing

Modern systems fail in ways that are hard to trace. Slow queries, blocked sessions, memory pressure, unstable integrations, and reporting workloads often overlap. Many teams respond with guesswork, which leads to partial fixes and more confusion. This session shows a structured way to diagnose performance problems using Systems Thinking and proven engineering practices. You will see how to read the signals from SQL Server, how to track production bottlenecks, how to separate workloads that compete for resources, and how to connect symptoms across services. Real examples from ERP, APIs, and reporting systems illustrate common patterns and failure modes. Attendees walk away with a repeatable process to find root causes faster, improve stability, and reduce stress during incidents.

The Art of Agile: Applying Stoicism to Scrum Leadership

How do Agile teams thrive in the face of constant change, tight deadlines, and unexpected obstacles? Scrum provides structure, but it’s often our mindset that determines success. Enter Stoicism, an ancient philosophy that offers timeless tools for resilience, clarity, and focus—essential traits for anyone navigating the complexities of modern software development.

In this talk, we’ll explore how Stoic principles like amor fati (embracing challenges as opportunities), dichotomy of control (focusing on what we can influence), and apatheia (maintaining emotional balance) can transform how teams approach work in a Scrum framework.

By blending the pragmatism of Stoicism with the adaptability of Scrum, we’ll uncover actionable strategies for:

Leading teams through uncertainty with calm and confidence
Building trust and focus in Agile environments
Responding constructively to setbacks and failures
This session is for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Agile team members looking to enhance their practices, foster resilience, and create sustainable team success.

Join me to discover how ancient wisdom can help us meet today’s challenges—and turn them into opportunities for growth.

Scrum, Stoicism, and Systems Thinking: Finding Order in Complexity

How do we navigate complexity and find clarity in challenging projects? This session dives into the synergy between Scrum, Stoicism, and Systems Thinking to uncover a framework for overcoming obstacles and driving success in Business Central implementations. Explore how Stoic virtues like wisdom and discipline align with Scrum principles such as adaptability and focus. Learn how Systems Thinking helps manage interconnected processes and dependencies in ERP systems. By blending philosophy, agile practices, and technical expertise, this session offers actionable insights to bring order to even the most complex projects.

Get Your Gloves On: Lean into Agile with Ivan & Sarah

Agile and Lean Six Sigma are often treated as opponents in a boxing match. Round by round, sprint by sprint, phase by phase – at odds with each other in a fundamental way with one focused on speed, the other on process stability and precision.

In reality, both share a common goal: continuous improvement and delivering tangible business value. Agile dons its satin robe through adaptability and feedback loops, while Lean Six Sigma brings to the ring structured problem-solving, waste reduction, and data-driven decisions. Together, they form a powerful foundation for resilient, high-performing teams delivering the KO in business value.

Attendees will not just learn the fundamental tenets of Lean Six Sigma and Agile, but also walk away with an understanding of how both approaches can work together to create stronger teams, smarter processes, and better technical and business outcomes. As we look to the future, how teams can, should, and would ethically leverage AI in a discussion of real world use case retrospective what-ifs.

Get out your gloves, and ring the bell! Round one starts now!

This session is co-presented Sarah F. Wimberley: https://sessionize.com/sarahfwimberley