On Friday, March 23, 2018, the agile community experienced a tremendous loss.
Mike Beedle, Agile Manifesto co-author and creator of Enterprise Scrum passed away, leaving behind a wife and 3 young children.
If you would like to make a donation to a fund set up to help Mike’s family please go to:
We at the Agile Uprising are saddened by this loss. Mike’s passing will leave a void in our community that cannot be underestimated.
Hopefully, as we reflect, we can embody all the good things Mike brought to our collective community: challenging ideas, asking ‘why’, and never apologetic for having an opinion. Please circulate the gofundme link, and share any specific memory, story, or experience you may have had with Mike.
I know for me, I was caught off guard the day I saw his linkedin request come through my feed. From an agile perspective, you don’t forget the day one of the manifesto co-authors reaches out to connect. To me, that’s what Mike represented: a man who enjoyed the debate, sought connections to share his ideas, and didn’t care what title or pedigree you carried in the agile world. In honor of Mike, I will be reaching out to 5 new people today, and will share this thread as the inspiration for why my invite is in their inbox.
I didn’t know Mike personally but always appreciated his perspective and knowledge he brought to the community. His interview for the manifesto author review was awesome. This is truly shocking/horrifying i’m really happy to see the community helping out with go fund me for his family.
First book I read on the topic of scrum and agile was Agile Software Development with Scrum authored by Mike Beedle and Ken Schwaber. A manager dropped it on my desk and told me it was bullshit and the org would never use scrum. I remember reading it in a coffee shop in haddonfield NJ within 3 days - changed my outlook on work (and eventually home). Mike’s name never left my consciousness and the influence from that first book is still with me. Was looking forward to more topics on business agility. This comes on the heels of another personal situation for me this month where the fragility of life is brought into focus. Godspeed, Mike.
I knew Mike both personally and professionally. I shared some memories & photos at http://bradapp.blogspot.com/2018/03/rip-mike-beedle.html
wow man, great read. Really glad you shared that. I enjoyed the history, vignettes, and photos - great tribute on your part. Sure Mike is proud…
Subtle point… I refer to Mike as a co-author. You see, for many years, we allowed folks to publicly “sign” the manifesto.
For what it is worth, Mike was one of the most passionate members of that Author fraternity. He was a humble man that spoke for the advancement of the agile mindset and stoked the challengers of the status quo.
Mike was also a gentlemen and a leader. He should be remembered as one of the pillars of the work we take for granted today.
Personally, mike was a co-Author of a boom that started my journey. His book changed the trajectory of my career and improved my happiness and my ability to provide for my family. I am forever grateful to him and his body of work.
(Took me a bit to post here - Mike had a deep impact on me and i count myself lucky to have known him on a small level)
Organizers, if you would rather not leave this comment, it is fine by me to delete. I did not know if folks wanted to follow the case or not…
On one hand, the closure is good.
On the other, the randomness, the wanton disregard for human life, makes me want to cry in sadness and shout in anger.
