DEVOPSDAYS DOWN UNDER
there is no talent shortageAndrew Clay Shafer @littleidea
12 JULY 2013
start with history
you can either easily manage complex systems at scale...
or you can’t...
developer sysadmin
3 people
2008
developer sysadmin
more people
2013
confession:I was never particularly passionate about operations
confession:I was never particularly passionate about development
I was paid to develop
I am easily impassioned
I became fascinated with the dynamics of high performance
fascinated with the dynamics of high performing organizations
and the individuals that comprise them
a master
mentally and physically unprepared for reality
the game had changed
In the 1960s, GM averaged a 48.3% share of the U.S. car and truck market
the game had changed
the game has changed
the game has changed
10 deploys a day 50 deploys per day
infrastructure is code
continuous this, that, and the other
all about culture
tools really do matter
all about the business
what about ITIL?
understand the flow of work
antifragile
quit your job feedback and visibility
measure everything
the game has changed
the game has changed
What should we DO? Who should we HIRE?
devops isn’t working!We can never do that!
WE CAN’T FIND TALENT!
the game has changed
A WAR FOR TALENT!
fail
the game has changed
What makes the difference?
devops doesn’t workpeople do
a word about jobs
stone cutting doesn’t work?
Three Stone Cutters
“I’m paid to cut stones”
“I use special techniques to shape stones in an exceptional way, here let me show you.”
I build cathedrals.a sense of purpose
we reduce people to their job
dev ops
we talk about culturelike culture is a checkbox on a list
we talk about culturethen abstract everything into boxes with labels
we talk about culturethen hire based on a laundry list of buzzwords
we talk around culture
‘commitment’
‘cultural fit’ ‘motivation’
‘values’ ‘vision’
do we cultivate culture?
do we cultivate individuals?this is the original meaning
incentives and behaviorsthe games people play
game theorythe study of mathematical models of conflict and
cooperation between intelligent rational decisions makers
rationalchooses to maximizing utility function
Nash Equilibriumno players have anything to gain by changing
only their own strategy unilaterally.
Pareto Efficiencyan allocation of resources in which it is
impossible to make any one individual better off without making at least one individual worse off
Pareto Inefficient Nash Equilibriumpossible to make an individual better off without making any individual worse off
no one will change their strategy
Pareto Inefficient Nash Equilibrium
until the game changes
the game has changed
software is eating the world
remember dvds?
we are in the middle of inventing our culture.--Patty McCord
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3e1lnixKBM
The real company values, as opposed to the nice sounding values, are shown by who gets rewarded, promoted, or let go.
--Patty McCord
real values determine incentives
incentives determine behaviors
rational agents maximizing utility functions
you are either building a software business...
or you will be losing to someone who is...
everyone is starting to understand this
you are either building a learning organization...
or you will be losing to someone who is...
organizational learning“a dynamic process of creation, acquisition and integration of
knowledge aimed at the development of resources and capabilities that contribute to better organizational performance”
“support the acquisition of information, the distribution and sharing of learning, and that reinforce and support continuous learning and its application to organizational improvement”
“Thus, organizational learning culture is under constant construction, moving along an infinite continuum towards a
harmonious learning environment”
7 dimensions of Organizational Learning
continuous learningrepresents an organization’s effort to create continuous
learning opportunities for ALL of its members
inquiry and dialoguean organization’s effort in creating a culture of
questioning, feedback, and experimentation
team learningspirit of collaboration and the collaborative skills that
undergird the effective use of teams
empowermentencourage feedback and action to address the gap between
the current status and the vision regardless of rank
embedded systemestablish systems to capture and share learning
system connectionactions to connect the organization to its
internal and external environment
strategic leadership
the extent to which leaders act strategically using learning to create change
In my organization?
dimensions of the learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ)http://www.partnersforlearning.com/questions2.asp
Questions
Watkins and Marsick
In my organization, people openly discuss mistakes in order to learn from them
In my organization, people identify skills they need for future work tasks
In my organization, people are encouraged to ask “why” regardless of rank
In my organization, teams/groups focus both on the group’s task and on
how well the group is working
My organization builds alignment of visions across different levels and work groups
In my organization!
Statements
not only exist in spirit, but are incentivized!
if they are not incentivized, they won’t exist
rational agents maximizing utility functions
stop conflating learning with academics
stop conflating learning with training
stop conflating learning with education
there is no ‘school’
the organizations that build the future become ‘graduate studies’ in
the skills they require to do so
The learning organization is one that has the capacity to integrate people
and structures in order to move toward continuous learning and change.
learning cannot be something that happens outside of the process
learning is the point of the process
continuous learning
a learning organization not only has the advantage of the increasing capacity of cultivated talents, but has advantages
attracting and retaining talent
there is no talent shortagethere is a shortage of vision and courage
you are not your job
I build the future
build the future
we build the futuretogether
the game has changed
come at me
@littleidea
✤ Netflix - culture unleashed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3e1lnixKBM
✤ dimensions of the learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ) - http://www.partnersforlearning.com/questions2.asp
✤ Maverick - the worlds most unusual workplace - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maverick_(book)
✤ The Fifth Discipline - The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Discipline
✤ Organizational Learning Culture's Influence on Job Satisfaction... - http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/53624/1/Hsu_umn_0130E_10474.pdf
✤ Yang, B. (2003). Identifying valid and reliable measures for dimensions of a learning culture. Advances in Developing Human Resources
✤ Fred Ettish - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5maknndsas
Resources