Ode to O2 Agility

Category: Self-Selection
October 16, 2019

In spring 2016, Jesse Huth and I ran our first self-selection event at Opower and were immediately hooked. It is such an empowering and powerful process that we’ve spent the time since speaking, blogging, and podcasting about it whenever we can. 

But, as life would have it, we are now both focused on other parts of our careers. Jesse is killing it at Pivotal, engineering their Product teams to be more efficient and effective. Ironically, just as Opower was acquired by Oracle shortly after our first self-selection event, they’re poised for an acquisition by VMWare. He’s also moved to Denver, which is the perfect place for him while he skis up a storm, climbs, and enjoys all that region has to offer.

Amber has since moved home to Madison, WI. The draw of family closeby and the general feel of this beautiful lake town finally pulled her away from DC. She’s now the Director of Software Development at Singlewire Software, which makes emergency mass notification systems for schools, hospitals, companies, and just about everyone else. She spends a lot of time with her daughters, hiking, kayaking, and occasionally Adventure Racing.

What’s Next, O2?

Since we’re busy and O2 is basically hibernating right now for a winter that may last forever, we’ve decided to take the content and port it over to Amber’s new site so that people can still find it and ask questions as they plan their own self-selection events. The O2 Agility site will come down, but Amber and Jesse are always happy to help with a self-selection event. Just email us at team@amberrfield.com.

Ode to O2

And now, because we’ll both miss O2, I’d like to offer these parting words about O2 Agility:

We’ll miss you and salute you, O2 Agility

For helping everyone build self-selection capability

You were born after that great event at Opower

Capital One, Deloitte, and many others you did empower

We spoke at the first Business Agility Conference in New York City

You were blocked from Agile Turkey by Trump, that was a pity

There were podcasts, videos, blogs, and countless successes

So raise a glass to O2, self-selection, Amber and Jesse

O2, you spread the word on self-selection

And so it is with great admiration and affection

That today we officially say good-bye to you 

Forward, onward and upward, woodland caribou

(Couldn’t resist! That was the best rhyme for “you” on rhymezone.com 🙂 )

Search the Blog

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog. We will never share your email.

About Amber Field

Amber has over 20 years of experience working in the software industry with agile software teams and specializes in creating efficient, happy teams & clients while helping them scale, execute, and work / live intentionally.
Get to know Amber →

Check Amber Out On:

Browse Posts by Category

Recent Posts

Slow Productivity by Cal Newport: Good Reminder, Not As Good as Deep Work

Slow Productivity by Cal Newport: Good Reminder, Not As Good as Deep Work

In Slow Productivity Newport says that our current definition of productivity is broken. Busyness has become a proxy for actual effort, and that history’s most creative and impactful people worked very differently than we do today. I buy into this premise completely. Newport is one of the clearest thinkers writing about work and attention right now, and I always appreciate his thoughts. Here’s a review about what I found valuable and perhaps not as valuable.

read more
Why I Keep Starting New Things in Retirement (And Why You Should Too)

Why I Keep Starting New Things in Retirement (And Why You Should Too)

The truth about retirement is, I’m still figuring out which challenges belong in my days and which problems I really want to solve. I’m still learning what it means to do hard things by choice rather than by obligation and how to find the right balance between the ebb of rest and the flow of something hard that I think matters. Here’s what I’ve figured out so far.

read more
The Best Part of Our Viking Rhine Trip Was After the Boat: Switzerland, Lake Como & Milan

The Best Part of Our Viking Rhine Trip Was After the Boat: Switzerland, Lake Como & Milan

Our extension, which went from Basel through the Swiss Alps by the scenic Bernina Express train, two nights in St. Moritz, another scenic train into Italy, a stop at Lake Como, and two nights in Milan, was fantastic. It had everything the river cruise sometimes lacked: free time, fitness centers, beautiful hotels, and the feeling that the pace was ours to explore. Let me tell you how our post-extension to Switzerland and Italy went.

read more