John Wright Senior Consultant
User experience of agile project: I have never known a project to develop at such a rate."
- Job Title
- Senior Consultant
- Bio
I have been a Senior Agile Consultant at IndigoBlue Consulting since 2006, and have been running or coaching Agile teams since the late 90's where I helped a software house adapt to a new way of working.
I have applied Agile working methods and supported organisations adopt Agile in varied environments; product development companies, large retail organisations, financial services companies, charities and media organisations. Key companies I have worked with to assist them with their adoption of Agile include Carphone Warehouse, Reuters, BT (as Technical Director for an internal start-up business), IFDS (International Financial Data Services), Guardian Online, Home Office, Metropolitan Police, Target Group and the Institute for Physics.
My approach to supporting teams is very hands on. I provide a good overview of what the objectives of Agile delivery are and how to govern agile projects. This is followed up with interactive sessions to define stories, build a backlog, asses the resource requirements and create the plan. With a solid foundation I then coach the teams on Agile techniques and engage specialists to support me in the delivery of detailed engineering practices.
Not only do I assist organisations in the adoption of Agile within software delivery, but I coach organisations to adopt incremental delivery throughout their organisation and have supported them in developing governed incremental change strategies that enhance their business proposition.
In 2010, I was involved in guiding the Institute for Government with their research and recommendations into the use of Agile and Open Source software within Government, presenting the output of a practical application of Agile within the Metropolitan Police to Sir Ian Magee and the Government Task Force.
I have a particular passion for engaging with the commercial side of organisations to ensure that the contractual framework that suppliers of software products and services enter into with their clients is aligned to facilitating the Agile approach and not constraining it.
- Short bio
I'm an experienced Agile project manager and am particularly interested in governance and contractual issues. I have a hands on approach and have been running and coaching Agile teams since the late 90’s.
- LinkedIn profile
- http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/john-wright/0/559/177
- Twitter account
- https://twitter.com/stortfordowl
My Most Recent Posts
Trust
14 MAY 2013 | Posted in agile business change, collaboration.communication, productivity, software delivery, trust | Author John Wright |
1 Comment
While I was working with one of my clients a few years a go, I was given a book to read by the CEO. "The Speed of Trust". I read the book with a healthy dose of scepticism having read many management books in the past. But this book resonated with the core principles of Agile for me.
Twit twoo
17 FEB 2013 | Posted in empirical evidence, insults, pragmatism, social media, Twitter | Author John Wright | 2 Comments
I must admit I'm not a prolific tweeter, or twit as a recent customer described people who tweet, and recently I've realised why.
More to the Point
28 NOV 2012 | Posted in advantages of Agile, agile project management, estimation, forecasting, planning, relative estimation | Author John WrightFollowing on from Stan's post on relative estimation I feel the need to comment on why we don't estimate in days or hours, and why relative estimation is better and lower maintenance for planning and tracking projects.
There are three key reasons we don't use absolute estimates:
- Developers don't like committing to man day estimates
- Contingency gets added in at many different stages bloating the estimates
- Project managers assume the estimates are fixed
Are bugs stories?
17 JUL 2012 | Posted in prioritisation, story | Author John Wright | 1 Comment
To answer that you need to define a bug. A bug is something that doesn't provide the desired capability within the system provided.
Now we could get hung up on the difference between a bug and a change, but that distinction is only important for managing the commercial contract. However, that's a subject for another blog post!
Agile Adoption in Government - Mixed News
12 JUL 2012 | Posted in Agile in Government, IfG | Author John WrightThe Government has made some progress in adopting Agile, but there is a long way to go. So says an update from the Institute for Government (IfG) on their report - System Error - from a year ago.
The IfG update report - System upgrade? The first year of the Government's ICT strategy - says that whilst the strategy commits the Government to use a more Agile approach, achieving its target of 50% of projects using Agile techniques by April 2013 will be extremely difficult. "Until agile approaches become the norm, we are likely to see further examples of major government IT projects that experience vast cost overruns and produce solutions that are out of date by the time they are delivered."
I set out this morning with a specific plan, a specific goal. The 516 from Bishops Stortford, the 645 from Paddington, at work in Cardiff for 9.
Well, for those who commute regularly, it's been one of those days! So far nothing has gone to plan. I find myself in a different place at a different time.
Crossing the Chasm
25 APR 2012 | Posted in ADAPT, agile adoption, agility | Author John Wright | 1 Comment
Ok, so its probably an over-used senior management phrase, but I can't help but think adopting Agile is a bit like starting up and growing your own business.
When someone has a new idea for a business, they usually start small, figure out the rules of business, find out what they need to do to make their business work, identify their market, tailor their product, get the pricing right, identify how to sell their product, win some business, re-invest the learning and profits into the business to help it grow.
Chisel or axe?
14 NOV 2011 | Posted in Agile Business Conference 2011, Agile in Government, agile transition, Government | Author John WrightI've been thinking about the way Government is approaching the challenge of adopting a more Agile approach to IT.
The current Government ICT Strategy includes the follow specific targets:
Governance of Enterprise-Scale Agile Projects
19 OCT 2011 | Posted in Agile Business Conference 2011, agile delivery, agile governance, agile programme management, enterprise agile | Author John WrightThe key issue in scaling Agile is ensuring that the correct governance principles are adopted and scaled as the use of Agile evolves. Many organisations use Agile methods successfully on smaller projects, but these start to fail when project size increases or when multiple projects and programmes exist.
This session at the recent Agile Business Conference discussed IndigoBlue’s tried and tested approach to Agile governance: ADAPT and CONTROL. My presentation slides are now available below.
My parents are coming to visit this weekend and that is usually preceded by a mad frenzy of tidying the house! I could work room by room through the house until the whole house is tidy, but I know time is tight.
MY RECENT VIDEOS
John Wright talks to the Institute for Government about the benefits of adopting an Agile development process.
John Wright's interview [1:18]:
MY RECENT BLOG POSTS
While I was working with one of my clients a few years a go, I was given a book to read by the CEO. "The Speed of Trust". I read the book with a healthy dose of scepticism having read many management books in the past. But this book resonated with the core principles of Agile for me.
MY RECENT ARTICLES
IndigoBlue has released a case study and white paper “Using Agile in Government Agencies” describing the successful piloting of Agile methods at the Home Office.
The project was part of a wider research programme managed by the Institute for Government’s (IfG) which looked at improving IT delivery in Government.
