Keynote Tackling Awesome Superproblems

The Agile values and practices we all hold dear not only give us the ability to solve problems associated with software development but provide us with the muscle-memory to address ‘awesome superproblems.’ These extreme challenges worsen through inaction and resolving them requires large-scale collaboration with people who often have competing values and goals.

A remarkable thing happens when we make progress on solving these awesome super-problems—we discover new ways to handle other similar challenges, which arise when we transform our organizations into Lean Enterprises.

In this keynote, Luke Hohmann, an internationally recognized expert, and speaker on Agile Software Development will show how decision-making and collaboration frameworks (thinking tools) pioneered by the Agile community can be used to tackle awesome super-problems. The author of four books, numerous articles and an inventor of more than a dozen patents, Luke helped co-found the first Agile conference in 2003, has served on the Agile Alliance board of directors, and consults with customers like Automation Anywhere, BMW, Cisco, RELX Group, The City of San José, CA, Verifone, and more.

Luke Hohmann

Luke Hohmann is a Principal Consultant with Scaled Agile, Inc. and the inventor of Innovation Games®. Founder and CEO of Conteneo, Inc. (acquired by Scaled Agile), Luke lead the team that created the Weave platform. A former Board member of the Agile Alliance and the author of four books with long titles, Luke’s playfully diverse background of life experiences has uniquely prepared him to design and produce people-powered tools that increase Agility.

Luke is also co-founder of Every Voice Engaged Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps citizens and governments tackle technical and wicked social problems through Participatory Budgeting and Deliberative Decision-Making.

Luke graduated magna cum laude with a B.S.E. in computer engineering and an M.S.E. in computer science and engineering from the University of Michigan. In addition to data structures and artificial intelligence, he studied cognitive psychology and organizational behavior. In his spare time, Luke likes spending time with his four kids, BBQing for friends and his wife’s cooking. He also enjoys long runs in the Santa Cruz mountains to burn off his wife’s cooking and work on his Dreamlog.