“How do you know a good Agile Coach?”

I’ve been asked this question a few times. I don’t have a complete answer, but I do have some thoughts on the topic. If I were interviewing someone to come work with me, and help coach my teams with agility, these are the two most important things I think I would ask about:

• How many years of software development experience do you have?

  The preamble to the Manifesto for Agile Software Development says:

  We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.

  I think this means it’s important for those leading us in agile ways to have experience developing software. There’s room for interpretation, but my interpretation is that this means they have at least some experience coding.

• What is your track record for continuously delivering customer value?

  I’m not interested in someone’s track record of increasing “velocity” on the teams they coach, or how many different retrospective formats they know. I want to know if they have a track record of satisfying the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

What’s on your short list? Do you disagree with mine?