This document discusses a model for organizing IT teams called "Pioneers, Settlers, and Town Planners" based on the work of Simon Wardley. It describes the roles of each group - Pioneers experiment and fail quickly, Settlers adopt ideas and customize them, and Town Planners industrialize and scale solutions. The model focuses on continuous improvement through the "theft-based pull" of ideas between these roles. Common anti-patterns are discussed such as relying only on innovation labs or forcing adoption without shared vision. The key takeaways are to create flows of ideas rather than barriers and recognize that each role contributes value.

1. Settlers of DevOps
Down with the Tyranny of Architecture
Governance
Rob Cummings
Solution Principal, Slalom
@opsrob

2. Why are we here?

3. I want to deliver customer
value faster and more
humanely.

4. Bi-Modal IT
Governed by Enterprise Architecture
May not have line of site to customer
Mode 1
Systems of
Record
Mode 2
Systems of
Innovation
All the cool things, maybe

5. “A system is more than the sum of its
parts. It may exhibit adaptive,
dynamic, goal-seeking, self-
preserving, and sometimes
evolutionary behavior.”
-- Donella H. Meadows. “Thinking in Systems.”

6. Bi-Modal IT
Mode 1
Systems of
Record
Mode 2
Systems of
Innovation
No flow

7. Bi-Modal is an overly
simplistic way to organize.

8. What actually works?

9. An acknowledgement that
innovation and change is
required throughout the org.

10. A system that takes into
account transition states
and feedback loops.

11. Enter Pioneers, Settlers, and
Town Planners.

12. Thank you Simon Wardley!
@swardley
http://blog.gardeviance.org/

13. Pioneers

14. Traits of Pioneers
- Live outside of “standards” and ITIL
- Fail, lots
- What they build usually isn’t trusted
- (nor should it be)
- Comfortable going with gut-feel

15. Settlers

16. Traits of Settlers
- Make prototypes real
- Build trust throughout the org
- They adopt each other's ideas, with customization
- (beginning of an ecosystem)
- Continuous improvement

17. Town Planners

18. Traits of Town Planners
- Focus on what is common and well defined
- Industrialize, scale
- Operational efficiency
- Build the services Pioneers rely on for future
experimentation
- Metric driven

19. A few things about this
model…

20. This is a theft based
pull model.

21. Pioneers, Settlers, Town Planners
Pioneers Settlers
Town
Planners
Theft Theft
Re-use
Everyone has line of site to customer

22. Mode 1
Systems of
Record
Mode 2
Systems of
Innovation
Bi-Modal IT

23. Pioneers, Settlers, and
Town Planners are all roles
requiring excellent people.

24. Pioneers, Settlers, and
Town Planners can (and
should) exist within a team.

25. Take care to foster the
feedback loops and
maintain the pull nature.

26. Let’s make it real.
Continuous Delivery
Adoption

27. - Small group of pioneers
- Sponsorship and common vision from the top
- Got to near MVP state
- Ultimately not adopted
Continuous Delivery Pilot

28. - Adopted much of the ideas and code
- Shipped into production, made it their own
- Followed by a number of other teams that adopted
and some customized
- Now we have a proliferation “problem”
App Team - Settlers

29. - Built a commodity pipeline and platform for the org to
adopt
- Intent is to allow pioneers and settlers to innovate on
the next thing.
Enter the Town Planners

30. To recap…

31. One team trying a thing…

32. Lots of teams, several tools

33. Now a Commodity

34. Anti-Patterns

35. Common anti-patterns
Lack of shared vision and
common outcomes.

36. Jumping into a new
model all at once.
Common anti-patterns

37. Using Enterprise
Architecture to prevent
waste and force adoption.
Common anti-patterns

38. Relying on Innovation Labs
or Centers of Excellence
for your pioneers.
Common anti-patterns

39. Forgetting your
organization requires a
systems thinking approach.
Common anti-patterns

40. Key Takeaways:
Create flows, not barriers
or mandates.
Each role is filled with
excellent people.

41. This is evolving, we are not finished.
Where will you take us?

42. rob.cummings@slalom.com
Thank you!!
@opsrob
https://speakerdeck.com/opsrob/settlers-of-
devops-boston-2017