Define "Work"
DevOps and the way we work
We all know what work is
activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.
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Planned
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Managed
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Ordered
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Accounted
Division of Labour
- Specialization
- Standardization
Handoffs
- Impedance mismatch
- Failures
- Queues, inventory
Exchange of goods, information
We invented
Management
- Coordination
- Resource and work allocation
- Choosing goals
- Planning
- Responding to change
- Hierarchy
- Value predictability, efficiency
- Lower variability, increase stability
Traditionally, Management valued
Doesn't actually fit
Our model of work
- Management coordinates and directs
- Workers execute
- Work is planned, ordered and controlled
Work à-la Phoenix Project
- Business Projects
- IT Operations Projects
- Changes
- Unplanned Work
Splitting the atom
(can result in a big boom)
Arbitrary borders
Border control
Nine women can't deliver a baby in one month
Work is variable
Work must change over time
Profession
Feedback
Context matters
Conway's Law
Any organization that designs a system (defined broadly) will produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organization's communication structure.
Organizations must be adaptive
Understand work, or end up like this
Embrace the dynamic nature of work
- Promote feedback and learning
- Don't sanctify tools and practices
Organizational divisions are only a tool
Diversify your teams
Thank you
(you can bring out the torches now)
Define "Work"
By Avishai Ish-Shalom
