About the Authors
Jim Highsmith is an Executive Consultant at ThoughtWorks, Inc. He has 50-plus years’ experience as an IT manager, product manager, project manager, consultant, software developer, and storyteller. Jim has been a leader in the agile software development community for the past two decades.
Jim is the author of Adaptive Leadership: Accelerating Enterprise Agility (Addison-Wesley, 2014); Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products (Addison-Wesley, 2009); Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative Approach to Managing Complex Systems (Dorset House, 2000), which won the prestigious Jolt Award; and Agile Software Development Ecosystems (Addison-Wesley, 2002). Jim is the recipient of the 2005 international Stevens Award for outstanding contributions to systems development.
Jim is a coauthor of the Agile Manifesto, a founding member of The Agile Alliance, coauthor of the Declaration of Interdependence for project leaders, and cofounder and first president of the Agile Leadership Network. Jim has consulted with IT, product development organizations, and software companies in the United States, Europe, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, India, and New Zealand.
Linda Luu is a Consultant and Head of Digital Transformation for ThoughtWorks, Inc. North America. She has 20 years’ experience building new capabilities in organizations seeking to respond faster to the shifting needs of customers, in the areas of design thinking, big data and analytics, portfolio management, and agile delivery.
In 2010, frustrated by the pace of product development and organizational change at a large bank, Linda left Aussie shores and headed to the United States to learn better ways of working. During this journey, she was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with amazing individuals who pushed the boundaries of how organizations could function both at a macro and team level. This experience made her excited to share the learnings, stories, and many challenges of building organizational responsiveness in today’s environment fueled by technological change. Her journey includes working with clients from Australia, North America, Canada, South Africa, and Brazil.
Linda is on the board of Rutgers Big Data Certificate Program. She holds a double degree in commerce (finance) and science (applied math) as well as an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management. She is married and a proud mother.
David Robinson is a Principal Consultant at ThoughtWorks, Inc. where he focuses on helping clients drive digital transformation. He is the global leader of the Responsive Organizations offering at ThoughtWorks. David has consulted with large enterprises driving digital transformation in the financial services, transportation, logistics, retail, and entertainment industries across the globe.
David has 30-plus years’ experience in information technology as a CIO and other leadership positions. He has grown three start-ups (two wins, one loss), and also spent a few years outside of technology, leading business units. As a recovering executive, David has been focused on building more human organizations by innovating new ways of working that unlock the talent and passion of creative people.