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Introduction - 1 Jan, 2002

Weeks One Through Eight - 1 Jan, 2002

Week Eight: Wednesday - 20 Feb, 2002

Week Nine: Monday - 25 Feb, 2002

Week Nine: Tuesday - 26 Feb, 2002

Week Ten - 6 Mar, 2002

Week Eleven: Monday - 11 Mar, 2002

Week Eleven: Tuesday - 12 Mar, 2002

Week Eleven: Thursday - 14 Mar, 2002

Week Fifteen - 9 Apr, 2002

Week Sixteen - 16 Apr, 2002

Week Seventeen: Wednesday - 24 Apr, 2002

Week Seventeen: Thursday - 25 Apr, 2002

Week Eighteen - 29 Apr, 2002

Week Nineteen - 6 May, 2002

Epilogue - 29 Jun, 2006

"You can Change Your Organization or Change Your Organization."

Martin Fowler's words slalomed through my brain as I trudged to work on a cold and dreary morning. The weather, my mood, and the work ahead were all the same: colored in gray. I wanted a change.

It was 2002. The .com bust was in full slump and work was hard to find. I had started my own small business as an independent consultant at the worst possible time: the end of 2000, right as the bubble popped. I had some noteworthy successes doing what I loved: coaching agile Extreme Programming (XP) teams in doing great work for a valuable purpose. And then the work dried up.

Eventually I admitted that I was going to have to find some "real" work to fill the gap. I took a contract job as a programmer on a team customizing some web software for a large institutional customer. This team was the opposite of agile. I was bored and frustrated. It didn't take me long to remember Martin Fowler's advice. As a peon, could I make the kinds of changes I made as a (damned good!) XP coach? Or would they kick me out, causing me to change organizations a little more abruptly?

I decided to find out.

Change Your Organization: A Diary