Richard Durnall

From software development to the system around it

Richard Durnall is the author of the original Lean, Agile and organisational-design writing published on this domain. His early biography describes a career that crossed hands-on technology work, airline systems, manufacturing and consulting. These experiences help explain the blog’s recurring interest in the relationship between software delivery and the wider organisation.

In that self-written account, he describes becoming interested in computers through machines including the Commodore, Amiga and Sinclair Spectrum. He left school at sixteen and worked in a local IT business across sales, customer service, production and technical support. Seeing several parts of the same business became an early influence on his interest in systems rather than isolated technical tasks.

He later studied Computer Science at Aston University in Birmingham, reporting a first-class honours degree. His biography describes a British Airways placement involving Heathrow airport systems and e-business, followed by software work on self-service check-in. These details come from his own historical account; they are not a newly conducted interview or independent verification of every project.

A dated professional timeline

Professional methods and industry context

The 2009 JAOO biography described Durnall as a certified Six Sigma practitioner and a chartered member of the British Computer Society. These are historical descriptions, not a statement that a credential remains active today. The same record described consulting across financial services, government, print, online and service businesses. His presentation connected strategy deployment, value-stream mapping and organisational structure with the challenges of enterprise Agile adoption.

What his writing asks readers to examine

The following reading themes are editorial observations about the recovered articles, rather than quotations from a new conversation with Durnall.

Flow and the conditions for starting work

The push, pull and Kanban articles ask how work enters a system and why it waits. Their diagrams connect manufacturing examples with software delivery. Read them together to examine the start policy, work in progress and the distinction between appearing busy and delivering a useful result.

Lean and Agile as connected ideas

The Lean vs Agile essay considers how Lean knowledge can inform Agile practice. On 26 June 2008, Martin Fowler linked to that essay in his own discussion of the relationship between the two. This is a documented reference to the historical writing, not an endorsement of this website’s new editorial material. Fowler’s original article.

Strategy, leadership and organisational design

The Hoshin Kanri, leadership and organisational-design articles move beyond individual team ceremonies. They ask how direction, decisions and dependencies affect delivery. The IT Division presentation is a useful companion for readers examining the structure around engineering work.

Learning through questions

Interviews with Owen Berkeley-Hill, Mary Poppendieck, Kent Beck and Rand Fishkin preserve conversations about Lean thinking, software development and search. Reading these as dated interviews allows the original voices to remain distinct from the current commentary.

Where other practitioners discuss his ideas

These dated references help readers trace the ideas beyond this blog. They refer to the historical work and professional discussions.

• 28 June 2008 · Dan North, Learning to Lean. North describes Durnall and Karl Scotland as Lean experts he drew on when helping teams learn. His article connects Lean practice with stages of skill acquisition. Read North’s account.
• 4 October 2012 · Continuous Delivery, The Case of Apple. The article names Durnall and discusses his observation about Apple’s product strategy as an entry point to the distinction between continuous delivery and a product launch. Read the original discussion.
• 26 January 2018 · Dan North, In praise of SWARMing. North credits Durnall’s earlier account of the stages an organisation encounters during transformation. His archived link leads to Agile Adoption Patterns, restored here: people, tools, governance, customer relationships, finance and organisational structure all become part of the change. Read the later reference.

A route through the writing

Start with Lean vs Agile, then compare Push Systems and Pull Systems. Continue with Agile Adoption Patterns for change, Hoshin Kanri for strategy, and Organisational Design for the wider organisation.

The Lean glossary and Agile glossary support the reading path. They preserve their original terminology; current framework definitions should be checked with their primary sources. The complete catalogue keeps the original writing alongside the practical 2026 guides.

Presentations and professional appearances

• Lean Concepts for IT Professionals: Richard Durnall and Kraig Parkinson present Lean principles and their application to IT. InfoQ dates the recording to 17 June 2009 and lists a duration of 1:24:56. Watch the original presentation at InfoQ.
• Hoshin Kanri: an original recovered presentation on strategy deployment, available as a PDF.
• The IT Division. Refactored.: a 2009 JAOO presentation, available as the original PDF. Its speaker context is documented in the JAOO programme.
• Agile Australia 2011 and 2012: the speaker programmes document his delivery-leadership background and participation in the community.

The PDFs are historical documents. Their old professional contacts and relative time references are not published here as current consulting or support details.

Richard Durnall’s public profiles

These public profile pages were checked on 4 October 2026. Accessible accounts do not establish recent activity or a current employment title.

• Richard Durnall on LinkedIn ↗ — the public profile identifies Greater Melbourne Area. Its REA Group recommendations and a shared Possible Ventures post match the professional background described above.
• Richard Durnall on X · @rdurnall ↗ — the account linked by the original blog now opens at x.com. The latest guest-visible post during this check was dated 12 April 2017; recent posting has not been established.

The historical Facebook address requires sign-in and could not be verified publicly, so it is not listed as a confirmed current profile. No live social feed or third-party widget is embedded.

Sources and profile boundaries

1. Amazon Academy: The future of possibilities, 5 October 2015: SoundCloud engineering title and the Berlin event.
2. Novoda, ImmobilienScout24 case study: mobile-product work commissioned by Durnall; first improved release in September 2016. The page itself does not display a publication date.
3. Julia Butter, It’s ok to not go AI first!, 16 October 2019: 2018 discussions and the description of Durnall as a former Scout24 CTO.
4. Scout24 Engineering, Kickoff for Diversity at Scout24, 4 August 2016: company account of the CTO role, 2015 joining year and earlier SoundCloud work.
5. Dan North, Learning to Lean, 28 June 2008: first-person professional discussion.
6. Continuous Delivery, The Case of Apple, 4 October 2012: reference to Durnall’s product-strategy observation.
7. Dan North, In praise of SWARMing, 26 January 2018: reference to Agile Adoption Patterns.
8. Original About Me biography: Durnall’s self-reported early career and education, preserved with its source capture.
9. JAOO 2009 speaker biography: dated consulting role and presentation.
10. Agile Australia 2011 speaker list and 2012 speaker list: dated REA Group role; the latter supplies the historical portrait.
11. Martin Fowler, Agile Versus Lean, 26 June 2008: reference to the original Lean vs Agile essay.
12. Possible Ventures public network: later professional network listing, checked 4 October 2026.

This profile covers public professional information. A current job title, a complete year-by-year employment history and present availability for consulting have not been independently established. No awards, credentials or personal contact details are invented. Richard Durnall remains the author of the original texts; the new reading notes and field guides are the work of the Durnall editorial team.