"Once upon a time": powerful words that begin many oral narratives and indicate that the story to be told will be imbued with magic and myth. Organizational folklore can be a very powerful force for instilling or perpetuating behavior, systems, and culture within an organization. Too often, fear and negativity are the driving forces in the folklore behind many organizational traditions. A positive narrative that embraces the customs and traditions of a healthy, balanced feedback loop can help jumpstart your DevOps journey. This talk will help you frame your narrative alongside metrics and use folklore as a catalyst for positive change.

1. Magic,'Myth'and'the'DevOps
Jennifer'Davis'@sigje
DevOpsDC(August(2015
1

2. Who$am$I?
Automa'on)Engineer,)Chef
Co#Author)of)"Effec0ve)Devops"
DevOpsDays)SV)Organizer
2

3. Sparkly(devops(princess
3

4. Expecta(ons
• talk&for&~40&minutes
• 3me&for&discussion&and&ques3ons&at&the&end&
4

5. Goal
Communica)on*and*Feedback
• Twi%er:)@sigje
• Email:)sigje@chef.io
5

6. Why?
6

7. Five%Pillars%of%Effec0ve%Devops
• Collabora(on
• Hiring
• Affinity
• Tools
• Scaling
7

8. The$Devops$Compact
• shared(mutual(understanding
• established(boundaries
8

9. High%Performing%devops%Teams%are%more%Agile
30X$more$frequent$deployments
8000x$faster$lead$-mes$than$peers
2014%PuppetLabs%State%of%DevOps%Survey
9

10. High%Performing%devops%Teams%are%more%
Reliable
60x$change$success$rate
168x%faster%mean%.me%to%recovery%(MTTR)
2015%PuppetLabs%State%of%DevOps%Survey
10

11. Devops'is'a'Myth
11

12. Myths
guide&behaviors.
12

13. Myths
based&in&tradi+on.
13

14. Myths
explain(the(world(and(our(significance.
14

15. Myths&are&the&oral&history&passed&
around&to&give&value&to&the&
unknown.
15

16. Myths&...
1"part"promise
1"part"warning.
16

17. Myths&are&magic.
Unseen,&invoking&behavior.&Influencing&us.
17

18. Myths&frame&our&choices.
We#can#make#inten+onal#selec+ons#based#on#our#values.#
18

19. Myths&are&programs.
Allow%us%to%alter%our%central%algorithm.
19

20. Insanity(is(doing(the(same(thing(over(
and(over(and(expec4ng(different(
results.
20

21. Story&of&a&typical&team
21

22. 22

23. 23

24. 24

25. 25

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. Examining(Hidden(Myths
29

30. Myth:&Finding&"The&One"
• rockstar
• ninja
• 10x/Engineer
30

31. 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.(
31

32. • 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#
32

33. Myth:&Interview&as&a&gauge&of&skills
33

34. Myth:&Interview&to&iden0fy&the&"bad"&
engineers
34

35. Myth:&Educa,on
35

36. Myth:&Outdated&Engineer
36

37. Myth:&Produc-ve&Loner
SPOF%as%an%individual%
37

38. "Used&to&Be"*isms
38

39. Myth:&The&"right"&way.
• iden&fy)good)culture
• current)team,)background,)and)effec&ve)
39

40. Fear%Culture
40

41. Stormtrooper(Syndrome
• Agency
• Adaptability:0Role0adherence
41

42. Role%adherence
Farm%boy
Smuggler
Princess
42

43. Constraining*individuals
• A#developer#does...
• An#ops#does#...
to#the#detriment#of#the#team.
43

44. Learned'Helplessness
44

45. Borg%Syndrome
• no$individuality
• no$family/outside$interests
• no$celebra5ons
• encourages$system$blindness
45

46. Red$Shirt
• Tackling*challenges*
46

47. Cul$va$ng)Empathy
• Collect(stories(
• Listen(
• Circle(back
47

48. 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$than$Others
Anita$Woolley$and$Thomas$Malone
48

49. Speak&up
49

50. Why?
• Change(your(organiza/on.
• Educate(peers.
• Influence(community(of(prac/oners.
• Be<er(ar/culate(your(values(and(ideas.
• Historical(significance.
50

51. Key$strategies
• Explicit.*
• Informs*decision*making.
• Encapsulates*aim*and*key*values.
51

52. It#takes#a#thousand#voices#to#tell#a#
single#story.#
—"Na%ve"American"saying
52

53. Listen
• who%is%involved?
• what%is%the%current%state?
• cultures?
• beliefs?
53

54. Ensure'diversity
54

55. 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
55

56. Vision&or&Mission&Statement
Clear&statement&about&the&problem
• direc'on
• iden'ty,management
• team,cohesion
56

57. 57

58. 58

59. 59

60. 60

61. 61

62. Takeaways
• Foster(more(story(telling(and(listening(in(your(team
• Iden3fy(the(stories(your(team(is(telling(now
• Share(your(stories(in(the(community
62

63. Thank&you
❤
Twi$er'@sigje
Email&sigje@chef.io
63

64. Want%to%learn%more?
Effec%ve'Devops:
Hiring&and&Tools
Training'at'Velocity'New'York
64

65. Chef%Training:
Devops'Accelerator
Jimmy%Diamond
Email:%jimmy@chef.io
65

66. DevOpsDays)Silicon)Valley
November(6*7,(2015
h"p://www.devopsdays.org/events/20157siliconvalley/
66

67. DevOps'or'DevOps'not.'
There'is'no'try.
67

68. 68