This document discusses principles of iteration according to Job van der Voort. The three main principles are: 1) Shorten the cycle time from idea to shipping changes by adopting minimal viable changes, frequent deployments, and automation. 2) Adopt conversational development where all communication is written down and asynchronous. 3) Measure changes and learn by connecting business metrics to allow seeing how changes affect outcomes. Following these principles through short cycles, conversational development, and measuring outcomes allows for consistent building of valuable products.

1. Job van der Voort - @Jobvo
Principles of Iteration
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2. GitLab
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3. First commit Oct 9, 2011
Inc. established in 2014
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4. GitLab Inc. is why I'm here today
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5. 253 employees
>67 pets
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6. Zero offices
~36 different countries
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7. (Almost) everything is open
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8. Extremely iterative
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9. Why you should listen to me
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10. Q3 2015
First version of GitLab CI
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11. Q3 2017
GitLab CI Leader in Forrester Wave
CI Tools
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12. @Jobvo

13. PRINCIPLES OF ITERATION
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14. Focus on customer value
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15. Focus on customer value
Consistently build cool things that
people like
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16. Only possible to do consistently by
iteration
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17. First principle
SHORTEN YOUR CYCLE
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18. @Jobvo

19. Cycle time
Time it takes to go from writing down an idea to
shipping that change in production
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

20. Shorter cycles |>
More iterative
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

21. Skate to where the puck is going to be
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

22. Skate to where the puck is going to be
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

23. How?
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

24. 1. Shorter cycles
Minimally Viable Change (MVC)
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

25. 1. Shorter cycles
Deploy frequently (Continuously)
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

26. 1. Shorter cycles
Deploy more when it hurts
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

27. 1. Shorter cycles
Include gatekeepers into each step of the
cycle
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

28. 1. Shorter cycles
Automate everything
1. Have a great test suite (aim for 85% coverage)
2. Automatically deploy on merge to staging / preprod / prod
3. Automatic roll-out and roll-back
4. Adopting Cloud Native (Kubernetes + GitLab) makes this all
100x easier
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

29. 1. Shorter cycles
1. Adopt MVC
2. Deploy frequently
3. Deploy more when it hurts
4. Include gatekeepers into the conversation
5. Automate everything
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

30. 1. Shorter cycles
Result:
• Easier to coordinate, reason, estimate
• Quicker to respond to market needs
• Higher predictability
• Better code quality
• Easier to troubleshoot
@Jobvo - 1: Shorten your cycle

31. Second principle
ADOPT CONVERSATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
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32. Conversational Development
(ConvDev)
Asynchronous, result-driven way of
communicating
@Jobvo - 2: Adopt ConvDev

33. ConvDev is why GitLab can exist
@Jobvo - 2: Adopt ConvDev

34. 2. ConvDev
Write everything down
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35. 2. ConvDev
Thread the conversation through all stages
@Jobvo - 2: Adopt ConvDev

36. 2. ConvDev
Thread the conversation through all stages
@Jobvo - 2: Adopt ConvDev

37. 2. ConvDev
Asynchronous communication without need
for consensus
@Jobvo - 2: Adopt ConvDev

38. 2. ConvDev
1. Write everything down
2. Thread the conversation through all stages
3. Async without consensus
@Jobvo - 2: Adopt ConvDev

39. 2. ConvDev
Results
• Everyone can always move forward with their work
• Higher efficiency
• Every change and decision is written down and visible
• Can track cycle time
@Jobvo - 2: Adopt ConvDev

40. Short cycle times + ConvDev =
Awesome
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41. Small changes that are easily
revertable / rolled back
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42. There is a clear audit trail for each
and every change
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43. Everyone looks at the same things
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44. Third principle
MEASURE AND LEARN
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45. Connecting business with change
@Jobvo - 3: Measure and learn

46. See how any change affects (business)
metrics in the same place
(You can do this today in GitLab)
@Jobvo - 3: Measure and learn

47. SUMMARY TIME
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48. 1. Shorten your cycles
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49. 2. Adopt ConvDev (async
communication)
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50. 3. Measure and learn
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51. Questions?@Jobvo / job@gitlab.com
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