New Technologies and New Frontiers with Allan Kelly

Phil's guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Allan Kelly. Allan is the author of several books including "Continuous Digital", "Project Myopia" and "A Little Book about Requirements and User Stories". He is also a regular conference speaker and the originator of Retrospective Dialogue Sheets, Value Poker and Time Value Profiles In this episode Phil and Allan discuss why a career in I.T. can be a risk, why new technologies will open up new problems to be solved and why you shouldn't be scared to take some time out for yourself. Allan also provides some fantastic stories and insight into his own career.   KEY TAKEAWAYS: (3.58) TOP CAREER TIP By having an interesting career in I.T. you are taking on a lot of career risk. Allan talks about the number of companies that he has worked for in the past that have subsequently either disappeared or folded. This is because interesting and innovative companies often haven't found out how to make money reliably and this could delay your pay check.   (6.32) WORST CAREER MOMENT Allan tells us that early in his coaching career he took a role with a bank. He was very eager to help and make a difference when he joined but quickly concluded that a big part of the problem was the management. Allan believed that they needed to change the system but was unable to get the management's time to explain his concerns. Consequently it became more and more frustrating until he was fired. However you will never know what a company is like until you try to work for them.   (11.25) CAREER HIGHLIGHT Allan describes how companies he worked for early in his career didn't work in the way that he had been taught at university. It was disorganised and this made Allan feel guilty about not doing things correctly. He then worked for Railtrack on a project where they did work in a structured, methodical manner which delighted Allan. But he found that there were even more difficulties than he'd encountered in his previous experiences. However, he subsequently got to see what he had worked on in action and making a difference to other peoples' lives when he visited Paddington station Allan also talks about how he was able to help someone transition their career from a programmer to a product manager.   (16.53) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T Allan says that we are constantly at the frontier of new technology. As we solve problems we open up new categories of problems to be addressed. He then provides an example of how he used XML to help to move data around. Allan then goes on to say that current technologies are helping to solve problems but they will also create a new frontier of things that we haven't even thought about.   (20.21) THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – BBC Telesoftware. Allan was able to write programs, send them to the BBC for publishing and be paid for them. What's the best career advice you received? – Allan can't recall a specific example but recalls not having the confidence to work independently as a contractor What's the worst career advice you received? – A school career aptitude test suggested that Allan should become a forester or woodsman. What would you do if you started your career now? – Create something and get it into the App stores and hopefully make some money out of it. Alternatively contribute to an open source project. What are your current career objectives? – Allan says that he's longing to get back to product delivery. What's your number one non-technical skill? - Allan considers himself to be a closet economist and that understanding has helped him in his career. How do you keep your own career energizer? – Allan does podcast interviews, speaks at conferences and writes books. What do you do away from technology? – Allan says that he's found a love of gardening, exercises regularly and is kept busy by his children.   (26.10) FINAL CAREER TIP Allan says that he doesn't believe that the perfect work-life balance exists. Don't be scared of taking some time off for yourself.   BEST MOMENTS (10.10) – Allan Kelly - "Not all the agile coaches in the world are compatible with all the corporations and vice-a-versa" (25.01) – {Name} - "The person who learns most is the person doing the talking or doing the writing"     ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organisations to design, develop and implement software solutions. Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers. And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/philtechcareer LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Facebook: https://facebook.com/philtechcareer Instagram: https://instagram.com/philtechcareer Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community in Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – ALLAN KELLY Allan Kelly inspires, educates and advises digital teams to effectively deliver better products through Agile technologies. He is the author of several books including "Continuous Digital", "Project Myopia" and "A Little Book about Requirements and User Stories". He is also a regular conference speaker and the originator of Retrospective Dialogue Sheets, Value Poker and Time Value Profiles   CONTACT THE GUEST – ALLAN KELLY Allan Kelly can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/allankellynet LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allan-kelly-19b16/ Website: https://www.allankellyassociates.co.uk/