The rumors are true: I have returned back to the US after a two year stint as Managing Director of RippleRock India. Now that my assignment is completed (“build an India subsidiary”), I have been relocating myself and the family back to the States over the last few months. What was it like, you ask?
Highs
What an incredible journey! Over the last two years, I have trained and coached software teams in India, Malaysia, and China. Not only did I get an excellent exposure to different work cultures, but I met a compelling array of people, too many to mention by name. By virtue of being an expatriate, I was exposed to a full contingent of internationals. Here’s one story: The church I attended featured a number of African students, studying in Bangalore. One Sunday, I met a Ugandan and asked about the difficult history of Uganda and India, to which he replied, “Yes, lots of history, but I like to think of the future”. A few days later, I learn the US government is warning citizens not to travel to Uganda because of anti-American sentiment there. So I was one of the few Americans in the world who had the gift of hearing this African millennial’s positive perspective on the 21st century.
Lows
I’m proud of what we created at RippleRock India, but it took work. I joke with people that I must be glutton for punishment, given that I took a job that offered both the challenges of working abroad (culture shock, home sickness, language barrier) and a startup (legal, accounting, business development). As you can imagine, I learned a LOT of things all at the same time: (1) doing Agile consulting and training (2) as a foreigner (3) in the developing world (3) starting up an (4) international (5) subsidiary. One friend of mine offered the insight that I gained amount to a real world MBA, only with the bouns of a little more white hair.
Now What?
With the firm fully instantiated, I have handed RippleRock India over to the capable hands of Hiren Doshi. The founder of his own firm, PracticeAgile, Hiren is one of the strongest agile practitioners in India, and his team has generated some amazing results for clients across South Asia. With regards to our offerings, my absence means we won’t be offering Certified ScrumMaster courses nearly as often; however, we have established RippleRock as the premier best-in-class provider of PMI-ACP training.
For myself, I’m a little winded from all the travel and will be focusing my work on my home town of Washington DC for the foreseeable future. To make that happen, I will now be working with my old alma mater, Excella Consulting. My first Washington DC Agile training with Excella will be May 31st – June 1st, and to celebrate I’m offering major discounts to anyone who contacts me personally: email {at} jessefewell {dot} com.
Glad you’re back. Let’s get our hands to work!!
Thanks for the note, Peter.
Welcome back! Sounds like a great, learning, experience.
True, Scott. It was amazing. If you ever want to learn something new, then I strongly recommend stepping WAY outside your comfort zone.
It was great knowing you. Although we worked for a short while on Tesco.com project, I got to learn so much from you. I still remember the humour you brought to all the training with the mixture of desi words like “jugaad”
. I am sure your contributions will certainly make a difference to the Agile community in India. Wish you all the very best in your future endeavours.
Thank you for the kind words, Nilesh. Whatever impact I may have made in India, India made a bigger impact on me.
Welcome back to the USSA…..
Thanks, Judy.
Jesse, I am a great fan of you. Always wanted to learn agile from you. But got to know that you have moved back to US from Ripple rock. Will keep following you actively. My regards to you. Take care.
Thanks, Bharath. Do keep in touch.
Hi Jesse, the PMI-ACP aspirants really miss your sessions in India. Glad that I got an opportunity to know you through ACP session by PMIPCC and was really ‘fun’tastic. Hope we cross our paths in the future. Best wishes to you and your family!!
Thanks for the kind words, Hari.
Jesse, we miss you here in Hyderabad!
Thank you for enlightening Agile aspirants and practitioners like me in India during your short stay. After passing my PMI-ACP from your workshop that started on that great day 11-11-11, I continued my passion on Agile and cleared my CSM (Feb ’12), and CSP (May ’12).
You are now global! All the best in your new venture in US!
Well done, Phalguna! You truly are a leader in the PMI community.
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