Mark Stringer (London-based, N6)

For further information, contact mark.stringer@gmail.com (07736 807 604)

SUMMARY
Agile Coach, Consultant and Trainer: As the lead trainer and consultant at Agile Lab I have
been responsible for writing and delivering all of Agile Lab’s courses. I specialise in creating training that
delivers not only the concepts, but also allows participants to also experience through exercises and activities
a deep understanding of the material that I present. I have experience of running delegate and in-house
courses to audiences with a wide variety of technical abilities, from novice to expert.
My consultancy work goes beyond Agile into other areas of business process improvement and customer
engagement and is informed and influenced by psychology, Lean methodologies and research on negotiation.
Project Manager: My understanding of the role of project manager has developed over my 10 years of
experience. I now understand that the role of project manager is not so much to organise his team, but to
provide the project team with the resources to organise themselves and to take responsibility for delivering
the work required.
In my work at Agile Lab, my work at Sodurga.com and my work at Soda Creative, I have gained a solid
experience of running the whole Agile project management process. I know how to make sure that the
crucial meetings needed to run the Agile process happen at the right time and produce the right results: from
extracting stories in consultation with the client, to planning iterations, managing iterations through stand-up
meetings and reflecting on the progress of the project using iteration retrospectives and measures of velocity.
Software Developer: I have 15 years of experience as a developer. Alongside my work as a project
manager I have worked hard to maintain a high level of technical competence. I am also a Sun Certified Java
Programmer (SCJP).
My technical experience includes: Java (to 1.6, Sun Certified Java Programmer- SCJP) 10 years
experience, Perl (to 5.8) 12 years experience, C 15 years experience, C++ 12 years experience, Python 5
years experience, Javascript 3 years experience, Ajax 1 year, Googlemaps API 1 year. Other language
experience ADA, COBOL and PROLOG.
EMPLOYMENT
Agile Lab (June ‘07 - present)
Recently developed a brand-new course “Building the Lean Web Development Team.” Which draws from
the approaches of Taiichi Ohno as outlined his book “The Toyota Production System” to create a unique and
different approach to web development. Delivered as a “Beta workshop” in Bristol with very positive
feedback. (http://www.agile-lab.co.uk/2009/10/all-written-feedback-from-building-lean.html)
Developed a series of training materials for the teaching of Agile project management methodologies. I write
all the articles for Agile Lab’s blog (http://www.agile-lab.co.uk/blog.php) and publicise it through my
twitter account – (http://www.twitter.com/Mark_Stringer).
Over a period of 2 years, I have worked as an Agile coach, Consultant and contract project manager with
organisations varying in size for 5-200 employees.
Recent projects include: (see also: http://www.agile-lab.co.uk/labels/testimonial.html)
Lawton Communications Group. I worked with the team at LCG to introduce a series of advanced agile
practices, include the planning of future iterations in terms of previously measured velocity.
Rechord.com. I worked with Rechord.com to introduce a series of Agile practices, including the creation of
a prioritised backlog, daily stand-up meetings and iteration planning and test-driven development (TDD).
Nixon McInnes. I worked with Nixon McInnes to improve their Agile working methods through initial story
extraction meetings through development iterations and challenging renegotiations of scope.
Sodurga.com (June ‘07 – March ‘08 concurrent with Agile Lab)
Managed a project funded by the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board which sought to investigate
ways in which the internet could change and influence product design and manufacture. Developed a
prototype interface which allowed users to submit CAD drawings on the internet and receive estimate of the
cost of cutting the drawings using a 2D laser cutting machine implemented using Java and PHP.
Project was managed using Scrum methodologies, including daily conference call stand-ups, sprint planning
meetings and sprint retrospectives.
inbetwixt.com (February ’08 – April ’08 concurrent with Agile Lab)
Developed in two months in Javascript and AJAX a site that uses the Google maps API to allow people who
are near or far apart to find somewhere to meet up that is exactly half-way between them. The site was
developed using TDD and extreme programming methodologies.
University of Sussex (February ‘05 - June ‘07)
Worked on a series of development and deployment projects which involved researchers from several
universities. Managed the delivery of working software on a strict time scale that was fit for purpose and
ready to be deployed in private homes as part of a research study. The project was a multi-million pound
Government-funded investigation of the possible applications of ubiquitous computing technologies.
Soda Creative (July ‘04 - February ‘05)
Managed a marketing-led project for a high-profile internet bank. Reporting at several levels within the
Bank, as high as board level and also to several other design and marketing partners within the project.
Planned and lead the project through the full development life cycle. Managed day-to-day tracking of
development progress and negotiated changes to specifications and payment plans. This involved liaising
with a large number of third-party suppliers, both developers and designers, and working closely with the
bank’s security team to ensure that all the work undertaken was secure and complied with FSA regulations.
Concurrently managed the development of a web-based platform for collaborative production of scripts
between professional actors and schoolchildren. Produced original estimates of elapsed time and effort
required and tracked time and effort against budgets.
University of Cambridge (October ‘02 - July ‘04)
Managed the research and iterative development of a novel application which used RFID technology to
support school children’s exploration of discursive arguments. The project was a European-funded research
project and involved technical and research partners from all over Europe. Delivered working prototypes that
were deployed in schools and used in continuing research.
Xerox Research Centre Europe (March ‘98 – October ‘02)
Managed third-party development of embedded software for hand-held devices used in a major trial of a
prototype prior to product release. Managed research and development of a series of research prototypes.
Some of these were rated high enough by Xerox’s internal intellectual property committee to be fast-tracked
for patent protection. The announcement of one prototype was spun out commercially at the height of the
internet boom was claimed to have added $5 to Xerox’s share price. Developed prototype software in Perl,
Python and Java.
IBM (October ‘94 – March ‘98)
Developed software in ADA, COBOL and C++ as part of three large software development projects.
Experience of the whole software life-cycle, from requirements gathering, through specification and
development to testing and maintenance.
EDUCATION
Diploma in German - Open University (‘98-‘00), MSc in Cognitive Science – Birmingham University
(‘92-‘93), MA Hons Philosophy (2:1) – St Andrews (‘87-‘91)
OTHER QUALIFICATIONS: SCJP (Sun Certified Java Programmer), Clean UK Driving Licence
INTERESTS
Reading
I'm always reading. Reading is the way that I continue to renew and inspire myself and one of the main ways
that I understand the world. Reading got me out of West Yorkshire. I think my reading would be what
psychoanalysts would call an island of resilience - something that I can always go back to, that will always
get me through, no matter how bad things get. I read that somewhere. Recent books that I've read that have
been hugely influential on my thinking are "Learned Optimism" by Martin Seligman and “The Toyota
Production System” by Taiichi Ohno. I'll be reading both of those again soon. I've also just finished reading
the amazing "Passages" by Gail Sheehy, which I wanted to send a copy of to just about everybody that I've
ever known and loved. I'm fascinated how 8 ounces of dead wood can completely change your outlook on
life, as reading "Difficult Conversations" by Bruce Patton, Douglas Stone, and Sheila Heen did for me.
I read somewhere (I start a lot of sentences with that) that the great music lover and broadcaster John Peel
said that he was more interested in the music that he hadn't heard yet than the music that he had. I must
confess to knowing how he feels, in many ways, I'm more excited about books that I haven't read than ones
that I have. I'm excited to read books like "Learning to See" by Mike Rother and “Grunch of Giants” by
Buckminster Fuller. My absolute favourite kind of book is the kind that has a big long suggested reading list.
I am also interested in reading esoteric books that let you into a new and arcane world and so have become
fascinated with the works of the notorious Richard Bandler and related works by Derren Brown and Ian
Rowland.
Cooking
We have nowhere near the control that we would like to have in most areas of our lives. In his book on
Learned Optimism (mentioned above) Martin Seligman thinks this might be one reason why there is such an
epidemic of depression in the modern world. I think this might be why I like cooking. Making a meal is a
short project over which you have pretty much total control. I also like to repeat recipes over and over until I
get them perfect. As I've done just recently with my version of "Buffalo Wings". I can easily believe that this
control that I have over cooking goes a long way towards keeping me cheerful and sane. I recently started
volunteering to help cook for the homeless. Each time I do it I feel extremely pleased that there is something
practical that I can do for them. On occasion I've been without a kitchen for a couple of weeks and I haven't
faired well.
I like cooking "English food" - which for some people is a contradiction in terms. I'm especially fond of
English dishes that appear to magically come out of nothing - like Yorkshire pudding - you mix flour water
and eggs, heat lard in the trays until you start to smell it smoking and then pour in the batter. Twenty-thirty
minutes later you have these golden crispy crunchy marvels. Bread and butter pudding is similarly
metamorphic and magical.
Cookery is something where I'm very hands on (actually, a lot of the time, hands in) and practical. When it
comes to cooking, I'm not interested in theories, snobberies, or fashions, I'm interested in dinner. I read about
almost everything else but I don't read much about cooking. Although I do think you can tell cooks from
non-cooks by their attitude to Delia Smith (cooks like her because her recipes work). Nigel Slater's book
Toast should be handed to people as they come into the UK so that they might understand our suffering and
how lucky they are to be coming here now and not in 70's.
For further information, contact mark.stringer@gmail.com (07736 807 604)