Register, Eat Breakfast, and Network!

Unleashing the Power of Regret – Learning from Mistakes, Missteps, & Misadventures!

Abstract - Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have regrets, the question is how can we learn from our regrets? We’re getting better at recording lessons learned on projects, but do we utilize that knowledge in our personal lives? Duane’s largest regret was a simple unsafe decision that resulted in the amputation of 3 fingers and his thumb. Duane jokes, “If you can’t see regret when you’re looking at my hand, you’re not looking hard enough.” The consequences of the decision still exist, but he’s grown and learned many powerful lessons from that event. 

A common philosophy people buy into is to “live life without regrets”; unfortunately, that mindset has people running away from regrets before they've taken the time to understand them. Others focus on success but dismissing failure without learning is a chance to repeat a mistake. Don't dwell on your failures and use them to beat yourself up but utilize humility to inspire change. 

Failure often makes us stronger and increases our resolve. Improvement comes when we use regret as a time of reflection for future success rather than an excuse for defeated living. This session will help people learn from their past, live in the present and use regret as a catalyst to succeed in their future.

 

 

Duane Janiskevich

 

As a humorous and passionate storyteller, Duane encourages audiences to address their regrets and inspires people to learn from their own life lessons. Duane has a diverse background with experience as a labourer, civil technologist, high school teacher, programmer analyst, management consultant and a safety & leadership speaker. He’s taken a lot of chances, had many careers, and learned from big mistakes. He and his family reside in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Refresh your coffee!

Duane Janiskevich - Failure - Feud Style

Duane will be bringing out his inner “Richard Dawson” to create a fun, informative session of “Failure – Feud Style”. As part of his research he surveyed 100 people with experience on projects, ma ybe you were one of them. The top 7 answers are on the board, do you know how the local project guru's responded? Will you compete? Keep score? Be a judge? Either way cheer on a team as we learn from each other. As with failure one thing is certain, if your paying attention you will learn. Let's make a deal, come on down you could be the next contestant to win a new car (oops, wrong game show). Get involved, bring your team to victory, have a conniption, have a failure - feud style!

Click for Bio

Duane Janiskevich Bio

As a humorous and passionate storyteller, Duane encourages audiences to address their regrets and inspires people to learn from their own life lessons. Duane has a diverse background with experience as a labourer, civil technologist, high school teacher, programmer analyst, management consultant and a safety & leadership speaker. He’s taken a lot of chances, had many careers, and learned from big mistakes. He and his family reside in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Click for Abstract

Heather Carnegie - Alternative Dispute Resolution in Projects and Organizations

Abstract: Alternative (sometimes referred to as “Appropriate”) dispute resolution includes negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Most project managers are very proficient in negotiation as it is often required to obtain resources, to manage scope and to manage budget and schedule. Unfortunately, all too often, as negotiation is usually a positional “win/lose” proposition, it can be damaging to the relationships between the parties involved and, subsequently, to the project. Mediation involves a third-party neutral facilitator whose primary goal is to guide the parties towards a resolution that preserves the relationships between the parties and results in a solution that the parties themselves devise. Arbitration, on the other hand, requires a third-party neutral to hear all sides of the matter and to actually make a decision for the parties based on the evidence provided and whatever legal parameters are around the relationship between the parties (contractual, legislation, etc.).

Click for Bio

Heather Carnegie Bio

Heather Carnegie grew up in northern Manitoba and upon completing high school and a college program, worked for five years as a Legal Assistant / Paralegal before stumbling into the world of computers and information systems. Over her 25-year career in IT, she furthered her education through Athabasca University and obtained various certifications. She has performed roles on many projects and initiatives as a functional manager, project manager, client delivery manager, business analyst, systems designer and developer in both the public and the private sectors. She is a current member of the Regina/South Saskatchewan PMI and has maintained her PMP certification since 2006. In 2015, Heather joined Linka Howe Law Offices, returning to law after her 25-year sojourn into IT. She has completed the National Introductory Mediation and the National Introductory Arbitration courses through the ADR Institute of Saskatchewan. She has obtained her Qualified Arbitrator certification and is an active member of the ADR Institute. In addition, Heather has completed a 5-day suite of investigation courses sponsored by the Workplace Institute and is currently working to complete the necessary requirements to obtain her Qualified Mediator designation.

Click for Abstract

Steffan Surdek - Making work visible using Kanban

More and more organizations are asking teams to make their work visible using visual management boards. What does this mean and how do we make it happen? In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to make their work visible using a Kanban board. Learning objectives: At the end of this session participants will: ● Understand what is a visual management board ● Understand the steps to make work visible ● Understand how a visual management board helps make problems visible ● Understand how a visual management board to prioritize the work ● Understand how to see and limit the work in progress ● Understand how to to build a continuous flow of delivery.

Click for Bio

Steffan Surdek Bio

Professional Speaker, Author, Coach. Working with leaders to unleash their co-creative leadership. For close to twenty years now, Steffan has been navigating all around the software development world doing everything from defining requirements to architecture, development, and testing. In the last few years, working in large-scale organizations, he developed an expertise using Agile practices with distributed teams. He is one of the co-authors of the following book: “A Practical Guide to Distributed Scrum”. Steffan is known for his leadership, drive to succeed, communication skills and highly collaborative nature which allow him to turn the projects he takes part in into success stories. Steffan help organizations create and embrace culture change. He help executives, directors and managers become more conscious leaders and lead from a more systemic perspective. He help teams at all levels discover their emergent purpose and create a future together that is more collaborative and engaging.

Click for Abstract

Trent Korchinski - TBD

More to follow.

Click for Bio

Eat Lunch and Network!

Playing the Role

Focuses on helping you help the individuals in the crowd be motivated and inspired to help those around them. She’ll help your group become a better “team”, whether that’s in the workplace, at home or in relationships, and inspire the group to want to work harder for a common goal.

 

 

Sami Jo Small

 

Canadian Hockey Goalie, three-time Olympic medalist

Sami Jo Small is a three-time Olympian and five-time world champion goalie for the Canadian national women’s ice hockey team. A multi-sport athlete, Small attended Stanford university on a scholarship for discus and javelin. Sami Jo currently works as a motivational speaker as well is an owner of a hockey school that runs throughout four provinces. She also recently helped start the Canadian Women’s Hockey League where she continues to play elite hockey for the Toronto Furies.

Sami Jo Small grew up on the outdoor hockey rinks of Winnipeg, MB. Her passion for the game was honed in the boys minor hockey system. As the only girl she was forced each and every day to prove that she belonged through hard work and determination. She dreamt, like her teammates, of someday playing in the NHL, but also dreamt of someday stepping on to the podium at the Olympic Games. She accepted a scholarship to Stanford University for track and field to throw the discus and javelin.

Her dream of participating in the Olympic Games flourished until injury plagued her career and she consoled her feelings of failure by returning to the game she grew up loving. Hockey became her passion again as she played on the Stanford Men’s team even garnering PAC-10 MVP honours while earning her degree in mechanical engineering.

Her childhood dream became a reality when she accepted a spot on the 1998 Olympic Games team traveling to Nagano, Japan. Women’s hockey was on the rise and Sami Jo was a huge part of its success. She has since won five World Championships and has twice been named Championship MVP. She is a three time Olympian and has been a member of two Olympic Gold Medal Winning teams including Torino, Italy. Sami Jo currently trains full-time in Toronto and just recently helped start the Canadian Women’s Hockey League where she plays for the Toronto Furies.

Refresh your coffee!

Sami Jo Small - Playing the Role

Abstract: Focuses on helping you help the individuals in the crowd be motivated and inspired to help those around them. She’ll help your group become a better “team”, whether that’s in the workplace, at home or in relationships, and inspire the group to want to work harder for a common goal.

Click for Bio

Sami Jo Small Bio

Sami Jo Small is a three-time Olympian and five-time world champion goalie for the Canadian national women’s ice hockey team. A multi-sport athlete, Small attended Stanford university on a scholarship for discus and javelin. Sami Jo currently works as a motivational speaker as well is an owner of a hockey school that runs throughout four provinces. She also recently helped start the Canadian Women’s Hockey League where she continues to play elite hockey for the Toronto Furies. Sami Jo Small grew up on the outdoor hockey rinks of Winnipeg, MB. Her passion for the game was honed in the boys minor hockey system. As the only girl she was forced each and every day to prove that she belonged through hard work and determination. She dreamt, like her teammates, of someday playing in the NHL, but also dreamt of someday stepping on to the podium at the Olympic Games. She accepted a scholarship to Stanford University for track and field to throw the discus and javelin. Her dream of participating in the Olympic Games flourished until injury plagued her career and she consoled her feelings of failure by returning to the game she grew up loving. Hockey became her passion again as she played on the Stanford Men’s team even garnering PAC-10 MVP honours while earning her degree in mechanical engineering. Her childhood dream became a reality when she accepted a spot on the 1998 Olympic Games team traveling to Nagano, Japan. Women’s hockey was on the rise and Sami Jo was a huge part of its success. She has since won five World Championships and has twice been named Championship MVP. She is a three time Olympian and has been a member of two Olympic Gold Medal Winning teams including Torino, Italy. Sami Jo currently trains full-time in Toronto and just recently helped start the Canadian Women’s Hockey League where she plays for the Toronto Furies.

Click for Abstract

Arthur de Leyssac -Planning for Personal Success

Planning for Personal Success draws upon project management practices and other principles, in order to fulfil personal goals for a satisfying life. Personal success differs from other kinds of projects in some important ways. Firstly, there is no client who is going to define the scope for you nor provide the funding; those things you must take care of yourself. Secondly, personal success cannot be assessed by financial measures, because money is only a tool to help you with what really matters. Thirdly, you cannot choose which of the 3 'iron triangle' items are the main constraint (time, money, or scope), because the time is limited: everything must be done within your lifespan. In this workshop, learn a new kind of project management: managing your own life! Learn how to effectively apply decision making methods to bring satisfaction not only to yourself, but also to others whom you care about and interact with.

Click for Bio

Arthur de Leyssac Bio

Arthur de Leyssac is a certified project management professional, who has managed a variety of Information Technology projects of various sizes from small system enhancements to multi-year system replacement programs. Starting his career as an I.T. professional, he has become increasingly interested in methods of effective planning and leadership. He obtained an MBA degree in 1999, and has taught a variety of workshops on technology and leadership. In 2002, Mr. de Leyssac developed his own software product, the Pathways Planner, designed to provide goal-setting, time management, and money management tools for use by the public. Offered for free, it soon had 100,000 downloads. As a result of this initiative, Arthur discovered that the real problem people had was not the lack of a planning tool, but of knowing how to plan! Based on 17 years of investigation and experimentation since then, the author offers this workshop of the best 'tips' on how to find fulfillment in your life. Arthur de Leyssac is a certified project management professional, who has managed a variety of Information Technology projects of various sizes from small system enhancements to multi-year system replacement programs. Starting his career as an I.T. professional, he has become increasingly interested in methods of effective planning and leadership. He obtained an MBA degree in 1999, and has taught a variety of workshops on technology and leadership. In 2002, Mr. de Leyssac developed his own software product, the Pathways Planner, designed to provide goal-setting, time management, and money management tools for use by the public. Offered for free, it soon had 100,000 downloads. As a result of this initiative, Arthur discovered that the real problem people had was not the lack of a planning tool, but of knowing how to plan! Based on 17 years of investigation and experimentation since then, the author offers this workshop of the best 'tips' on how to find fulfillment in your life.

Click for Abstract

Steffan Surdek - How teams can learn through experimentation

With Agile teams, many organizations are trying to give teams the chance and the permission to fail. We also hear expressions such as “fail fast” which support this mindset. This workshop will teach participants how to experiment in a structured way with their teams in order to create a team culture based on continuous learning instead of success and failure. Using the Coaching Kata, participants will explore how to experiment to reach a goal or resolve problems in a scientific and structured way.

Learning objectives: At the end of this session participants will:

Have a basic experimentation framework that they can use with their teams

Understand how taking concrete actions and focusing on learning can speed up they problem resolution.

 

Click for Bio

Steffan Surdek Bio

Professional Speaker, Author, Coach. Working with leaders to unleash their co-creative leadership. For close to twenty years now, Steffan has been navigating all around the software development world doing everything from defining requirements to architecture, development, and testing. In the last few years, working in large-scale organizations, he developed an expertise using Agile practices with distributed teams. He is one of the co-authors of the following book: “A Practical Guide to Distributed Scrum”. Steffan is known for his leadership, drive to succeed, communication skills and highly collaborative nature which allow him to turn the projects he takes part in into success stories. Steffan help organizations create and embrace culture change. He help executives, directors and managers become more conscious leaders and lead from a more systemic perspective. He help teams at all levels discover their emergent purpose and create a future together that is more collaborative and engaging.

Click for Abstract

Katharina Kettner - Towards a Culture of Innovation: How Agile and OCM contribute to the success of Culture Change

This interactive talk explores the strategic importance of corporate culture and structure for organizational moves towards Innovation. It shows why projects are a good vehicle to make this change happen and how the systematic application of Agile and Change Management contribute to the success of Cultural Change towards a Culture of Innovation, in a way that is thought-provoking, entertaining and inspiring.

Click for Bio

Graze on finger foods, Network with our IIBA friends, and enjoy our bonus speaker - Reg Coppicus

Diversity and Inclusion

Abstract - Many businesses and government organizations have spent many years now trying to improve their perception, perspective, and reality of Diversity and Inclusion.  There are very mixed results on this, and few success stories. 

With Canadian immigration running over 300,000 people a year, and an aging workforce, understanding Diversity and working on Inclusion are more important than ever.  Within a few years 50% of the jobs in Canada will be performed by Immigrants.  Why are “Diversity” programs facing challenges?

Inclusion is a Leadership task, and should not be delegated to someone to handle on an occasional business.  Diversity and Inclusion will continue to become more and more critical to a successful business.

 Let us discuss these concepts to better understand them, and create a Path that we can follow on a grassroots level, to influence our own corporate cultures.

 

 

Reg Coppicus

 

Reg Coppicus develops Leaders, and has done so for 35 years, as a military officer and with experience in industry.  This activity includes educating in, and managing the processes of, Harassment and Racism Prevention and Investigation.  The natural progression has transmorphed into work on Diversity and Inclusion, and business success in this area relies directly on the quality of Leadership in a business and organization to drive the culture.  He has lived all over North America, and visited 10 different countries, all along appreciating the differences that make our lives, and people, so exciting.  In fact Reg realizes he has been working in Diversity and Inclusion in some respect for the past 40 years!