Hi, I’m Kathy Lovan — founder of Better than Chaos.
I’ve worked through a wide spectrum of organizational dysfunction, I understand it deeply, and it’s why I do the work I do to help others through it.
The path that brought me to this work — and to building my own practice.
My path into consulting wasn’t linear — much to the disappointment of organizations still chasing Waterfalls for complex work. It was shaped by years of navigating ambiguity, supporting people through challenges, helping managers grow into actual leaders, and learning how much smoother work becomes when the right tools, resources, and dynamics are in place.
I’m often brought in at critical moments — when investment is high, results are low, and alignment needs to be rebuilt. Over time, I realized how often office politics, bureaucracy, and unspoken rules can get in the way of doing work to improve outcomes for those who depend on it — customers, stakeholders, and employees.
My background allows me to recognize how choices will land before they do because I’ve guided teams and organizations through them many times, but the environment around me made it difficult to advance progress. That tension clarified something important: I wanted to work in a way that allowed for candor, objectivity, intention, and progress that actually matters — without the noise. That clarity is what ultimately pushed me to build something of my own.
Today, I live in Seattle, Washington — a place I love for its openness, its pace, and its shared sense of connection. And of course, it’s enduring ‘90s grunge vibe, coffee shops that seem to multiply when you’re not looking, and endless shorelines and evergreens that remind you nature has its own agenda. Being here has shaped how I think about work: grounded, intentional, and human. Starting my own consultancy was a way to create space for that.
My Background
I began my career in various operational roles at two Fortune 100 companies. From there, I was introduced to the concept of Agile when I became a full-stack software engineer in 2016 — developing a strong affinity for MEAN stacks. I started using Scrum and Kanban the way they were intended to be used — and I’ve never gone back.
I often operated as a full-service IT function — handling everything end-to-end, from technical implementation to product management. Everything I learned during that period still informs how I show up today. Managing the entire stack on my own taught me how delivery really works — not in theory, but in the trenches.
That firsthand experience is what makes me good at guiding organizations to deliver with clarity and confidence now. Because I understood delivery from the inside out, teams and leaders consistently turned to me for Scrum Mastering and enterprise agile coaching.
My current focus grew out of the overwhelming number of projects I inherited in crisis. Learning to rescue them — repeatedly — refined my approach and defined the work I’m known for today. It’s given me a grounded perspective that helps me spot patterns, pressures, and blind spots others often miss.
“It doesn’t matter how good you are today; if you’re not better next month, you’re no longer agile. You must always, always, always try to improve.”
— Mike Cohn, Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum
