Magic,'Myth'and'the'DevOpsJennifer'Davis'@sigjeSeaGL&October&2015

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Who$am$I?So#ware(Engineer,(Chef

Co#Author)of)"Effec0ve)Devops"

DevOpsDays)Silicon)Valley)Organizer

Sparkly(devops(princess

Founder,)coffeeops.org2

GoalCommunica)on*and*Feedback

• Twi%er:)@sigje

• Email:)sparklydevopsprincess@chef.io

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Agenda• Examine)the)fundamental)devops)story

• Iden7fy)common)stories)in)our)industry

• Iden7fy)and)model)example)stories)

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Why?

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The$Devops$Compact• shared(mutual(understanding

• established(boundaries

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High%Performing%devops%Teams%are%more%Agile30X$more$frequent$deployments

8000x$faster$lead$-mes$than$peers

2014%PuppetLabs%State%of%DevOps%Survey

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High%Performing%devops%Teams%are%more%Reliable

60x$change$success$rate

168x%faster%mean%.me%to%recovery%(MTTR)

2015%PuppetLabs%State%of%DevOps%Survey

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Devops'is'a'Myth

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Mythsguide&behaviors.

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Mythsbased&in&tradi+on.

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Mythsexplain(the(world(and(our(significance.

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Myths&are&the&oral&history&passed&around&to&give&value&to&the&

unknown.

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Myths&...1"part"promise

1"part"warning.

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Myths&are&magic.

Unseen,&invoking&behavior.&Influencing&us.

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Myths&frame&our&choices.

We#can#make#inten+onal#selec+ons#based#on#our#values.#

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Myths&are&programs.

Allow%us%to%alter%our%central%algorithm.

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Insanity(is(doing(the(same(thing(over(and(over(and(expec4ng(different(

results.

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Story&of&a&typical&team

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Examining(Hidden(Myths

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Myth:&Finding&"The&One"• rockstar

• ninja

• 10x/Engineer

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Job$Req:$Site$Rebel$Engineer$(SRE)

Talented(team(of(Jedi,(we(have,(gained(significant(trac7on(that(a(business(model(has,(and(to(expand(a(real(need(<(<(quickly!(Looking(for(smart,(we(are,(energe7c,(to(grow(our(company(at(a(lightening(pace(hard<working(individuals(who(want(a(chance.(This(is(a(posi7on(that(is(relegated(to(the(shadows(not(<(your(contribu7ons(<,(have(drama7c(input(on(the(direc7on(the(company(goes,(thoughts(and(input(will.(There(are(a(variety(of(challenges(and(obstacles(that(await(you(and,(excited(to(see(how(you(go(about(solving(them,(are(we.(

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• Cer%fied(Jedi(Master

• 4(years(lightsaber(experience

• ability(to(carry(80(lbs(for(1(mile

• X@Wing(pilot(license

• 24(hour(oncall

With%force%push%and%mental%persuasion%3%experience.%

To#join#and#contribute#to#a#team#of#smart#2#desire,#talented,#to#create#something#bigger#than#themselves#hard2working#individuals#

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Myth:&Interview&as&a&gauge&of&skills

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Myth:&Interview&to&iden0fy&the&"bad"&engineers

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Myth:&Educa,on

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Myth:&Outdated&Engineer

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Myth:&Produc-ve&Loner

SPOF%as%an%individual%

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"Used&to&Be"*isms

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Myth:&The&"right"&way.• iden&fy)good)culture

• current)team,)background,)and)effec&ve)

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Fear%Culture

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Stormtrooper(Syndrome• Agency

• Adaptability:0Role0adherence

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Role%adherenceFarm%boy

Smuggler

Princess

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Constraining*individuals• A#developer#does...

• An#ops#does#...

to#the#detriment#of#the#team.

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Learned'Helplessness

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Borg%Syndrome• no$individuality

• no$family/outside$interests

• no$celebra5ons

• encourages$system$blindness

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Red$Shirt• Tackling*challenges*

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Cul$va$ng)Empathy• Collect(stories(

• Listen(

• Circle(back

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Smarter'Teams'build'be/er'value• Lots&of&Communica/on

• Contribute&equally&to&team's&discussions

• Theory&of&Mind

• Increased&diversity

Why$Some$Teams$are$Smarter$than$OthersAnita$Woolley$and$Thomas$Malone

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Speaking)up

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Why?• Change(your(organiza/on.

• Educate(peers.

• Influence(community(of(prac/oners.

• Be<er(ar/culate(your(values(and(ideas.

• Historical(significance.

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Key$strategies• Explicit.*

• Informs*decision*making.

• Encapsulates*aim*and*key*values.

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It#takes#a#thousand#voices#to#tell#a#single#story.#

—"Na%ve"American"saying

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Listen• who%is%involved?

• what%is%the%current%state?

• cultures?

• beliefs?

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Ensure'diversity

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The$language$of$the$culture$also$reflects$the$stories$of$the$culture.$One$word$or$simple$phrasal$labels$o9en$describe$the$story$adequately$enough$in$what$we$have$termed$culturally$common$stories.$To$some$extent,$the$stories$of$a$culture$are$observable$by$inspec?ng$the$vocabulary$of$that$culture.$O9en$en?re$stories$are$embodied$in$one$very$culture@specific$word.$The$story$words$unique$to$a$culture$reveal$cultural$differences.$

Roger&C.&Shank

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Vision&or&Mission&StatementClear&statement&about&the&problem

• direc'on

• iden'ty,management

• team,cohesion

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Takeaways• Examined*the*fundamental*devops*story

• Iden7fied*common*stories*in*our*industry

• Iden7fied*and*modeled*example*stories*

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Want%to%learn%more?

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DevOpsDays)Silicon)Valley

November(6*7,(2015

h"p://www.devopsdays.org/events/20157siliconvalley/

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Thank&you❤

Twi$er'@sigje

Email&sparklydevopsprincess@chef.io

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DevOps'or'DevOps'not.'There'is'no'try.

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