Mary Poppendieck started her career as a process control programmer, moved on to manage the IT department of a manufacturing plant, and then ended up in product development, where she was both a product champion and department manager.

Poppendiek=ck considered retirement 1998, but instead found herself managing a government software project where she first encountered the word "waterfall." When she compared her experience in successful software and product development to the prevailing opinions about how to manage software projects, she decided the time had come for a new paradigm. She wrote the award-winning book "Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit" in 2003 to explain how the lean principles from manufacturing offer a better approach to software development.

Over the past several years, Poppendieck has found retirement elusive as she lectures and teaches classes with her husband Tom. Based on their on-going learning, they wrote a second book, "Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash" in 2006, a third, "Leading Lean Software Development: Results are Not the Point" in 2009, and a fourth book, "The Lean Mindset: Ask the Right Questions" in 2013. A popular writer and speaker, Poppendieck continues to bring fresh perspectives to the world of software development.

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