Hi, I’m Shaun. I help software teams build the right thing, ship it on time, and do it without chaos.
How I think about sofware delivery leadership
I’m a delivery lead and programme manager with a passion for software delivery leadership. In plain terms, I help software teams turn complex work into steady, reliable delivery.
I’ve done this for 25+ years for large, well-known companies. I came up as a developer, and these days I use AI in my own work every day. I write here about software delivery leadership, team flow, and what AI is really changing in how software gets built.
Off the clock, I’m a husband, dog dad to four French Bulldogs, and a Star Wars and video game geek.
What is software delivery leadership
Software delivery leadership is the work of helping software teams build the right thing, ship it on time, and do it without chaos. It is less about writing code and more about clear ownership, steady flow, and trust. Done well, it turns messy, multi-team delivery into calm, reliable progress.
Sofware delivery leadership, by the numbers
- 18 products built for a banking and insurance data team in three years.
- Took a team from no releases to shipping many times a day.
- Rolled out simple progress measures across 17 teams.
🏅 2024 Delivery Lead Profession Award, John Lewis Partnership.
“He took this team from delivering its first Data Product to a wide range of Data Products across Banking, Insurance and Payments. An asset to any team set up.”
Data / AI Platform Delivery and Operations Manager
John Lewis Partnership
What I write about
Everything here maps to four themes.
AI in delivery
What I automate, what I steer, and what I leave alone. Honest notes from using AI in real delivery work every day, including where it helps and where it quietly gets in the way.
Leading delivery and flow
Keeping work clear, moving, and easy to predict. Flow metrics, forecasting without the guesswork, and how to keep many teams and suppliers calm and shipping.
Modern engineering
Shipping often, and learning from failure. Continuous delivery, platform engineering, and the everyday habits that let good teams build reliable software, faster.
Leading teams
Trust, ways of working, and getting the best from people. Servant leadership with a spine, onboarding that new joiners recommend, and teams that hold together at a distance.
New here? Start here is the best place to begin.
Latest writing
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Is Servant Leadership Dead? Service With Standards
No, servant leadership is not dead; research shows it still boosts team performance and trust, but it works only when service means honesty and high standards, not niceness. Continue reading…
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Servant Leadership for Delivery Leads: A Practical Guide
Servant leadership for delivery leads means putting the team’s needs first by building trust, empowering people and leading by example to improve team performance and deliver value. Continue reading…
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Types of Agile Methodology: Which One Fits Your Team? Scrum, Kanban or SAFe?
Not sure which agile method suits your team? We break down Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP and scaling frameworks in plain English — no jargon, just clarity. Continue reading…
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Engineering Mindset: Why Focusing on Failure Matters
Explore why focusing on failure is a game-changer with insights from Dave Farley. From Apollo missions to everyday code, learn how anticipating failures shapes reliable software. Continue reading…
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Effective Platform Engineering: Benefits & Missteps
Effective platform engineering empowers developers by raising concepts to a higher level of abstraction, rather than hiding complexity or imposing restrictive defaults that reduce developer autonomy. Continue reading…
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Continuous Improvement Culture: A Delivery Lead’s Guide
A delivery lead builds a continuous improvement culture through an agile mindset: questioning the status quo, gathering feedback, sharing metrics openly, encouraging experimentation, and treating failures as learning opportunities. Continue reading…
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Agile Mindset: What It Is and Why It Matters
An agile mindset is a way of thinking that treats change, challenges, and setbacks as chances to learn, adapt, and improve rather than as threats or obstacles. Continue reading…
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What Is an Agile Coach? Benefits & How to Hire
An agile coach teaches and guides software teams to apply agile principles, helping them collaborate, self-organise, improve continuously, and remove obstacles that slow progress towards project goals. Continue reading…
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CLEAR Goals for Agile Teams: Beyond SMART Goals
CLEAR goals (Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Appreciable and Refinable) suit agile teams better than SMART goals because they can be adjusted as the team learns more. Continue reading…
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What is Kanban? Card, Board, System or Method?
Kanban is a card, a board, a system and a method: a visual, pull-based way to manage work that limits work in progress to improve flow. Continue reading…
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Productive Meeting Agenda: 2 Tips to Fix Your Meetings
To make a meeting productive, give it two things: a clear desired outcome and a list of topics and activities, then share it as the agenda beforehand. Continue reading…
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Project Manager Personality: Do You Have What It Takes?
There is no single “right” personality to be a great project manager. Introverts and extroverts alike can succeed, as long as they know their strengths and adapt. Continue reading…