Helping organizations improve how they deliver value for over 25 years.
Mike primarily works on corporate engagements that block months at a time, although he does make time slots available for individuals who need quicker assistance (see the 55 minute coaching call below).
- Book a free 25 minute consultation or email Mike, to discuss how he can help you or your organization.
- Purchase a 55 minute coaching call.
- Email: mbowler@GargoyleSoftware.com
- Connect with him on LinkedIn.
- Follow him on Mastodon or the Fediverse.
If you heard Mike speak recently and are looking for more information on that topic, you’re probably looking for this follow-up page.
Overview
Mike is an experienced coach and trainer who helps teams, and their management, improve the way they deliver value. What makes Mike’s approach different is in the range of skills that he brings to your organization:
- Human behaviour, psychology, and applied neuroscience, to improve how people work, both individually and in groups. This includes a focus on growing psychological safety.
- Workflow design and implementation, to improve how the work flows through the system and how value is created. A focus on metrics, more data-informed decision making, and probabilistic forecasting to more accurately answer the question “when will we be done?”
- Technical skills to improve how the value is actually implemented and maintained. Development, architecture, DevOps.
- 25 years of experience with Agile methods to put it all together. Kanban, Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP)
Mike is based in Canada and has traveled around the world, provide training classes, coaching and facilitation services to his clients. Today, preference is being given to coaching that can be done remotely and he works in your timezone, wherever you are located.
Credentials
- Professional Kanban I (PK1) from ProKanban.org
- Professional Kanban II (PK2) from ProKanban.org
- Professional Agile Metrics I (PAM) from ProKanban.org
- Scaling with Portfolio Kanban (SPK) from ProKanban.org
- Kanban Management Professional (KMP) from Kanban University
- Scaled Agile Framework® Agilist from Scaled Agile
-
Certified Consulting Hypnotist from National Guild of Hypnotists (Far more relevant to coaching than you might think)
- Former Professional Kanban Trainer (PKT) for ProKanban.org
- Former Registered Education Provider (REP) for Scrum Alliance
Where else does Mike post content?
- He writes about the intersection of unconscious behaviour and Agile at Unconscious Agile
- He writes about various Kanban topics at Improving Flow
- He writes about technical programming topics at Agile Technical Excellence
- He posts nature photos on Flickr
Recent articles by Mike
Books
Mike was a contributor to the following books.
- “Test-Driven Development: A Practical Guide” Author: Dave Astels, Published: 2003
- “Mob Programming” Authors: Woody Zuill & Kevin Meadows, Published: 2016
Interviews with Mike
| Date | Podcast | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2024 | Mob Mentality Podcast | We talk about how I facilitate ensemble (mobbing) sessions and then dig into some neuroscience to explain some of the benefits of working this way. |
| Nov 2024 | Scrum Master Toolbox | Episode 1: We discuss the notion of “there is no failure, only feedback” and also about coaching management to ensure teams thrive |
| Nov 2024 | Scrum Master Toolbox | Episode 2: Trust and collaboration |
| Nov 2024 | Scrum Master Toolbox | Episode 3: Leading through curiosity and trust |
| Nov 2024 | Scrum Master Toolbox | Episode 4: Using Six Thinking Hats as a retrospective format |
| Nov 2024 | Scrum Master Toolbox | Episode 5: The pitfalls of combining the PO with other roles |
| Jul 2024 | The Agile Within | Neuroscience Strategies for Leading Teams |
| Aug 2019 | Legacy Code Rocks | Unconscious Behaviour in Coding |
| Feb 2017 | Agile Games | Using LEGO to teach technical topics |
| May 2016 | InfoQ | Using LEGO to teach technical topics |
| Jan 2015 | Agile Coffee | Using LEGO to teach technical topics |