SEPTEMBER 2014openstacksv.com
The Lie of The Benevolent Dictator
The Truth of a Democratic Meritocracy!Randy Bias, CEO
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Do we need a benevolent dictator?
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OpenStack *has* a leadership, or at least governance/management structure
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Board
Foundation
TC
Developer Community
PTLs Ind.Plat. Gold Ind.
ED
Rel Mgr Ind. Corp.
Subcommittees• legal• finance• DefCore• etc.
User Committee• nascent• user survey
RM
elected
appointed
hired
volunteer
Strategic Business Direction Tactical Software Dev Life Cycle
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But is it the right kind of leadership?
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Does OpenStack have a product vision and product
strategy?
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NO!
Does OpenStack have a product vision and product
strategy?
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The Gap
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Board TC
Strategic Business Direction Tactical Software Dev Life Cycle
Strategic Product Vision &
Direction?No one owns!!
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“product strategy” for open source project(s) ?
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Product strategy and vision will not “emerge” from a group
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We are a democratic meritocracy
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We are a democratic meritocracy
We are not the Linux community
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We are a democratic meritocracy
We are not the Linux community
We don’t need a dictator, but we do need product leadership
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Some Product Leadership Requirements not a complete list, OK?
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• OpenStack is NOT a Product, BUT … It Must Be Managed Like One• Long term vision + long term prioritization & planning• Corporate independence
• Work for the community: developers, operators, and end-users
• Focus on end-user needs and requirements• Working with the user committee, obviously…
• Ability to work closely with the Board and the TC• Priority setting, vision, etc.
• Architectural oversight and leadership
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Some Product Leadership Requirements
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What does AWS do?
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• Small architecture review board• Werner Vogels, James Hamilton, etc.
• Product management function• Team of product managers per product line
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What does Amazon do for product leadership?
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What *might* we do?
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• Arch Review Board (ARB)• Elected for 2-4 years• Small # of seats• Wide set of domain expertise• Remit is:• work with TC on BP/Specs• help PMs validate priority
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What could we do? (Just a SUGGESTION)
• Product Management (PM)• Not elected• 1+ per program• Specific domain expertise• Work for the Foundation• Annual 360° feedback• Remit is:• priority setting & negotiation
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Foundation
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Board TC
Developer Community
PTLs Ind.Plat. Gold Ind.
ED
Rel Mgr
Ind. Corp.
Subcommittees• legal• finance• DefCore• etc.
User Committee• nascent• user survey
elected
appointed
hired
volunteer
Strategic Business Direction Tactical Software Dev Life Cycle
ARB • Shared
chair?• Elected PTL
seat?• Independents• Long term
Architects
Prod. Mgrs
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Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship
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Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship
Product leadership cannot be emergent
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SEPTEMBER 2014 Page
Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship
Product leadership cannot be emergent
Many paths forward; *all* require creating ownership
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SEPTEMBER 2014 Page
Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship
Product leadership cannot be emergent
Many paths forward; *all* require creating ownership
Collective responsibility to fix this
19
SEPTEMBER 2014 Page
Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship
Product leadership cannot be emergent
Many paths forward; *all* require creating ownership
Collective responsibility to fix this
Failure to fix may result in insurmountable challenges
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SEPTEMBER 2014 Page
Thank you
@randybias
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