Today marks the 6^th agile anniversary here at Valpak.  Six years ago on October 14^th, 2011 we set out on our first sprint.  Since then, we have lathered, rinsed, and repeated the agile way for a whopping 142 sprints.  The transformation was complete a long time ago but the journey never ends.  Along the way, we’ve had good times where we thought we could accomplish anything and we delivered extraordinary value to the business.  On the flip side, we’ve had bad times where we felt so inundated with stories and tasks that we thought we couldn’t possibly get anything done.  We’ve had teams that have been together from the start and teams that have come and gone.  We’ve had teams go from Scrum to Kanban and back again and vice versa in their quest for high-performance.  We’ve conquered massive epics and nailed the art of the quick hit.  We’ve put up boards and taken down boards (and have the paper cuts and Sharpie stains to prove it).  We’ve retro’ed so much that we probably know too much about one another … too, too much.  We’ve openly shared our agile story and hosted agile tours for over 50 companies from all over Tampa Bay and beyond.  It’s been epic!

But, all this wouldn’t have been possible without the craftsmanship, pride, and heart (a whole lot of heart) of our people (not resources, but people); the people on our teams that work tirelessly sprint after sprint and story after story to deliver something that amazes our Product Owners, our stakeholders, and our customers.  And, those people couldn’t do what they do without the courage and direction of our elite team of Product Owners and our senior leaders, who themselves have been on their own agile journey.  Thank you to the people of Valpak for your collective effort in another year of not just doing agile but being agile too.  Cheers to you!