dr inż. Łukasz D. Sienkiewicz

How it started

I founded a software company, SandDev. For over ten years I managed its project portfolio. All of them worked out, some could have gone better. I started looking for patterns: what worked, what did not, and why.

Before that, I ran a program branch on projects for Nokia and Microsoft. My projects kept delivering and growing even as the overall program was shrinking. I wanted to know why, and that drove me into research.

I started with Applied Computer Science in Nysa, then Software Engineering at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. I earned a doctorate at the Wroclaw University of Economics, focused on relationships in agile software development. It helped me name things. It did not replace walking the front line with managers.

In 2010 I joined the Managing Board of IPMA Poland. Fifteen years of active work. Since November 2025 I sit on the Audit Committee of IPMA Poland (the equivalent of a supervisory board). I also served on the IPMA International Ethics Committee. Since 2019 I have been assessing project managers as a 4-LC assessor, and since 2015 as Leading Assessor for the Polish Project Excellence Award.

In 2024 I received the Atlas Project Management award for contribution to the development of project management in Poland.

What I actually do

Four things.

Strategic advisory. I help management boards set up projects, assess project excellence, choose an approach. Thousands of hours spent in advisory work, combined with my own practice, let me look at projects from many perspectives, not just through the lens of my own experience but also through the experience of my clients.

Classical project management. IPMA, planning, risk, governance. I know when it is needed and when it kills a project with bureaucracy.

Agile. Scrum, Kanban, Design Thinking, scrumban (which I co-authored a paper on at FedCSIS). I know when it works and when it is just a fad.

Choosing between the two. That is the real job. Because the real question is never “Agile or classical” but “what went wrong last time, and why.” The rest follows.

Scale

• Over 2,000 hours of consulting, advisory and mentoring (primarily for management boards)
• Over 500 hours of mentoring for top managers since 2020
• 20 years of managing projects, programs and portfolios
• Over 150 workshops and trainings
• Over 11 peer-reviewed publications (Springer, Open Innovation Journal, Business Information Systems, FedCSIS)
• Clients ranging from 5-person software houses to large companies in pharma, automotive, minting, industrial manufacturing and software, Polish and international
• Certifications: IPMA Level D, C, B (full path), Certified Scrum Master, GPM-b Green Project Management, Agile IPMA Level D, Authorized Trainer IPMA Polska

What you will not find here

• Claims that “Agile is the way” or “PRINCE2 is the standard.” No dogma included.
• A 90-day turnaround pitch. Real projects take real time.
• Stock phrases like “unlock your team’s hidden potential.” I do not know what that means.
• An ICF or EMCC coaching certification. I am not a coach. I am a personal project management trainer, which is a more precise description of what I do. You train in delivering projects, not get coached.

After hours

I devour audiobooks, not only business ones. I box and go to the gym, because sport does things to your head that no training can. I listen more than I talk.