Meet the Keynote Speakers for Global Scrum Gathering New Orleans

The Global Scrum Gathering in New Orleans takes place May 19-22, 2024. The gathering's keynote speakers provide inspiration and a great kickstart for the event. Below, meet the keynote speakers and find out what they'll be talking about.

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Heather McGowan, Future-of-Work Strategist

Balancing High Performance and Well-Being in the Future of Work

In an era where the boundaries between work and personal life are becoming increasingly blurred, finding the delicate equilibrium between achieving high performance and prioritizing well-being has become paramount. 

Together, we'll examine the impact of technology on our work habits and well-being, with a focus on how we can humanize the future of work.

Our keynote speaker will guide you through a thought-provoking exploration of strategies to foster a work environment where high performance, well-being, and emerging automated technology not only coexist but enhance each other. Drawing on the latest research, real-world examples, and practical insights, this session will provide you with actionable takeaways to implement in your professional and personal life.

Key audience takeaways include:

1. Persuasive vision of the power of the humanization of work
2. Instantly applicable frameworks and concepts to empower the workforce
3. Actionable understanding of the lifelong learning imperative
4. Five fundamental shifts for successfully leading an empowered workforce—perspective (understanding the change in context/norms), mindset, culture, approach, and behaviors

Learn More About Heather

Future-of-work strategist Heather E. McGowan helps leaders prepare their people and organizations for the post-pandemic world of work. The last few years have forever changed where we work, who works, how we work and measure work, what we do for work, and, most importantly, why we work.

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman frequently quotes Heather in his books and columns and describes her as “the oasis” when it comes to insights into the future of work. In 2020, Heather was recognized as one of the top 50 female futurists in the world by Forbes. Heather’s sessions help employees and leaders alike prepare for and adapt to jobs that do not yet exist.

McGowan serves on the advisory board for Sparks & Honey, a New York–based culture-focused agency looking to the future for brands. McGowan’s academic work has included roles at Rhode Island School of Design and Jefferson University, where she was the strategic architect of the first undergraduate college focused exclusively on innovation. 

In 2019, Heather was appointed as a faculty member of the Swinburne University Centre For the New Workforce in Melbourne, Australia. In 2022, McGowan was awarded an honorary doctorate from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in addition to earning her MBA from Babson College and her BFA in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design. 

McGowan is the co-editor and author of the book "Disrupt Together: How Teams Consistently Innovate," and a Forbes contributor. McGowan’s first book on the future of work, published in 2020: "The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast, and Thrive in the Future of Work," reached number three in business management books on Amazon and was named one of the best business books of 2021 by Soundview. McGowan’s most recent book, "The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce," was published in March 2023 and is a finalist for the Next Big Idea Book Club and identified as a top ten business book to read in 2023 by Business Chief.

Be sure to see Heather's insightful keynote speech in New Orleans in May.

Gerald Leonard, Author, CEO, Project Portfolio Management Guru

Rhythms of Success: Unleashing Agile Potential Through Workplace Jazz

This musically integrated keynote presentation explores the rhythmic parallels between jazz improvisation and agile methodologies. As a professional jazz musician, Certified Conversational Intelligence Coach, and certified business consultant, our speaker brings a unique blend of expertise to the agile landscape. In this session, we will explore the neuroscience that fuels agile thought processes, drawing parallels with the spontaneous art of jazz improvisation. Our speaker will provide a strategic blueprint for cultivating highly effective and interconnected project teams, emphasizing the transformative power of "workplace jazz" in driving cultural change and fostering individual and corporate responsibility. Actionable insights for agile coaching, emphasizing a step-by-step process enriched with stories and case studies, will punctuate the experience.

Key takeaways:

• Learn how to infuse agility into team dynamics, drawing inspiration from the improvisational spirit of jazz musicians.
• Understand the neuroscience principles that underpin effective agile decision-making and collaboration.
• Gain a strategic blueprint for developing connected and high-performing project teams.
• Acquire practical tactics to initiate and sustain a culture shift within your organization.
• Elevate your agile coaching skills with real-life examples and case studies. Embark on an experiential journey that transcends theoretical knowledge, equipping you with concrete tools to boost agility, productivity, and cultural transformation.

“Rhythms of Success” is more than a presentation; it's an inspirational symphony of actionable insights to propel your agile journey to unprecedented levels.

Learn More About Gerald

Gerald J. Leonard is an Author, CEO, Project Portfolio Management guru, and, importantly, a bass player. He brings all these traits and skills into his presentations and interviews. From Vision to Sharing Stories to Execution and Accomplishing Goals, Gerald showed us the principles of productivity necessary to reevaluate our businesses and enhance and build a better culture.

Gerald is the author of A Symphony of Choices (A Business Parable), Culture Is The Bass, and Workplace Jazz.

During the last 25+ years, Gerald has worked as an IT Project Management consultant and earned his PfMP, PMP, MCSE, and a Certification in Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ) Coaching. He has acquired Project Management and Business Intelligence certifications from the University of California, Berkeley; Theory of Constraints Portfolio Management from the Goldratt Institute, Executive Leadership from Cornell University; and The Wharton School: Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program and Scaling a Business: How to Build a USD 1 Billion+ Unicorn.

Dan Heath, Author, Thought Leader, Entrepreneur, MBA

How to Make Quick Progress

All of us get stuck sometimes. We're stifled by the gravity of the way we've always done things (inertia). We spend so much time fighting with colleagues about what we should do that we never actually accomplish anything (politics). And we exhaust ourselves chasing today's problems, which always seem to crowd out tomorrow's opportunities (firefighting).

How do we overcome these barriers? We tend to think that the only thing that can get us unstuck is a crisis. But that's not quite right. Heath has studied how leaders managed to shake off the rust and vault forward in pursuit of their goals—without needing a crisis to motivate their work. In this talk, Heath will reveal a simple framework for making rapid progress in virtually any domain. He'll share inspiring stories of problems overcome quickly: A hospital culture, struggling with burnout, transformed. A public library, on the brink of default, rejuvenated. Married couples, bitter and bickering, given new hope. These changes happened not in quarters or years, but in weeks or months.

The secret is the use of three key principles that can unlock quick progress. By using these principles, we can shake off bad habits and outdated practices. And we can enjoy the sudden snap of agency that comes from reminding ourselves: We're capable of changing this situation.

Learn More About Dan

Dan Heath is the co-author, along with his brother Chip, of four long-running bestsellers: "Made to Stick," "Switch," "Decisive," and "The Power of Moments." The Heath Brothers' books have sold over three million copies worldwide and have been translated into 33 languages. 

Dan’s new book "Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen" was an instant Wall Street Journal bestseller, and it was included on best-books lists from Apple, Amazon, the Financial Times, and others. 

Dan is a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports entrepreneurs who fight for social good. He is an entrepreneur himself, having founded Thinkwell, an innovative education company that will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year. 

Dan was named in 2013 to the Thinkers 50, a ranking of the world’s 50 most influential management thinkers, and also to Fast Company magazine’s list of the Most Creative People in Business. 

He has spoken to teachers, police chiefs, U.S. senators, interior designers, Navy admirals, healthcare leaders, marketers, ministers, and countless executive teams, across 26 countries on 6 continents. (He’s still waiting for that invitation from Antarctica.) Dan has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin. One proud geeky moment for Dan was his victory in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest, beating out 13,000 other entrants. He lives in Durham, NC.

The 2024 Global Scrum Gathering is a great chance to get motivated by Dan's insights, experience, and advice.

Don't Miss These Keynotes

The Global Scrum Gathering in New Orleans will feature inspiring keynotes, insightful sessions, and lots of opportunities to connect with like-minded people who are passionate about changing the world of work for the better. Sign up now to save your spot in New Orleans.

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