sacred riots
TRANSCRIPT
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Sacred Riots
Venkatesh Rao
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 2
A lightly edited version of a talk I did for the DevOps group at Riot Games.
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 3
Twitter: @vgr
Blog: http://ribbonfarm.com
Physical coordinates: Seattle
Summoner Name: napdar
Status: intimidated n00b
I am... • An aerospace engineer (PhD, control theory, U. Michigan, 2003) • 10 years in academic research/startup/big company • Since 2011 – independent researcher, consultant, writer • Not a gamer! Last relevant experience, playing Myth in 1998
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Chasm
Early
Market
Bowling Alley
Tornado
Main Street
HERE…
Technology adoption lifecycle, Geoffrey Moore, Dealing with Darwin
And you are…
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 5
Source: Venturebeat, July 2013
Congrats on the MOBA land grab...
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 6
Organizational challenges
But can you defend your nexus?
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 7
by dealing with inevitable change
While keeping the sacred constant
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 8
Organizational challenges
• Growing faster than culture can adapt • Paving cowpaths faster than they are forming • From one win to winning as a habit • Cash to burn = bad habits form faster than good
inevitable change
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 9
Technology challenges
• NEW technical debt loci • Docker, CoreOS • Oculus VR • AR gaming on horizon • LEAP controller…
inevitable change
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 10
Market challenges
• Console and PC gaming both threatened by mobile • Narrow demographics/psychographics risk (males 18-35) • Blizzard, Valve etc. are not going to sit still • Potential changing tastes • Evolution in gaming aesthetics
inevitable change
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 11
sacred constants?
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 12
So…DevOps, eh?
(among other things)
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 13
DevOps Idea Maze*
Continuous Integration
High Frequency Deployments
Minimize Recovery Time Vs.
Maximize MTBF
Deployment Automation
Automated Acceptance
Testing
Automated Rollbacks
Cross-trained skillsets
Rapid onboarding of new team members
Distributed Expertise
Jenkins
Containerization (Docker…)
Monitoring Workflows
Extreme Virtualization
Lean Workflows
No obstructionism
Extreme team cohesiveness
Highly open communications
Agile foundations
No cancerous stealth Codified expectations
Trust-based autonomy
http://cdixon.org/2013/08/04/the-idea-maze/
No-asshole rule
DRY
Chef
Nagios
shu-ha-ri
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 14
True North?
a sense of the sacred within an idea maze
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 15
You’re going to deploy some configuration of people and processes to navigate this idea maze.
What happens if they lack a sense of True North?
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 16
When there is no instinctive sense of the sacred that a process protects, the process itself becomes sacralized.
This is a CARGO CULT
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 17
This is a CULT OF PERSONALITY
When there is no process, powerful INDIVIDUALS with secrets* are sacralized
*Necessary in early startup phase, see Thiel/Dixon definition of “secret”, toxic if it persists with growth
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 18
People over Process
Process over People
True North is when this argument ends quickly and usefully each time
(if these arguments never happen, you have a bigger problem)
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 19
Wu Wei The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self The highest kindness is to give without a condition The highest justice is to see without a preference When Tao is lost one must learn the rules of virtue When virtue is lost, the rules of kindness When kindness is lost, the rules of justice When justice is lost, the rules of conduct
-- Tao Te Ching, Verse 38, trans. Jonathan Star
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 20
For smart people trapped in a cargo cult OR a cult of personality, software engineering turns into a …
…“nexus of SUCK”*
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 21
Nexus of Suck
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 22
Bigger Nexus of Suck
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Biggest Nexus of Suck
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 24
Are there REALLY 10 different conflicts here?
Let’s dig deeper.
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Hidebound Bureaucratic Holier-than-thou Naïve Boring Risk-averse Predictable
Inconsistent Unreliable Duplicitous Selfish Irresponsible Scheming Bullshitter
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Two negative archetypes
Which do you dislike more?
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“The fox knows many things, the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
-- Archilocus
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The philosophy primer: http://bit.ly/Ysr7ja
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Foxes
See Foxes as
Hedgehogs
See Hedgehogs as
Open-minded Resourceful Adaptable Worldly Interesting Adventurous Imaginative
Hidebound Bureaucratic Holier-than-thou Naïve Boring Risk-averse Predictable
Inconsistent Unreliable Duplicitous Selfish Irresponsible Scheming Bullshitter
Consistent Conscientious Fair Selfless Responsible Trustworthy Realistic
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 28
WARNING!
NOT a 1:1 mapping between fox/hedgehog and dev/ops
See Steve Yegge on conservative versus liberal programmers… https://plus.google.com/110981030061712822816/posts/KaSKeg4vQtz
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Attributions: Fox: Rob Lee Hedgehog: Lars Karlsson
Profane riots Sacred stability
complementary modes of arrested development
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chaos for the hell of it
curling up and resisting change
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 30
Sacred Riots
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 31
“GTD doesn’t stop you falling off the wagon; it makes it easier to get back on.” – David Allen
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 32
Candidate for the TAO of DevOps?
If you stay stuck for long you’re doing it wrong
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Where foxes get terminally stuck,
hedgehogs get started
Where hedgehogs get terminally stuck, foxes get started
Foxes are most comfortable finding direction
Hedgehogs are most comfortable developing momentum
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 34
Can foxes and hedgehogs operate with a shared sense of the sacred?
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Fox Hedgehog
Profane
Sacred
Adventure Love
Boredom Betrayal
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 36
Adventure + Love + Boredom + Betrayal =
NARRATIVE
DevOps is ultimately a series of stories big and small about repeatedly rediscovering the sacred amidst seemingly profane change
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 37
Bilbo’s birthday
Elves head West Two Towers
Fellowship formed
Ring Destroyed
Encounter with Ringwraiths
Reasons why Frodo can’t stay in the Shire
Incr
easi
ng D
isso
nanc
e
Example: Lord of the Rings
Gandalf v. Balrog
Frodo v. Spider
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 38
Liminal Passage
Liminal Passage Valley
Cheap Trick Separation Event
Evolved doctrine “Moral of the story”
Incr
easi
ng E
ntro
py
Double Freytag Narrative Structure
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 39
Project Kick-Off
Bugs level off Calm build-out
Design Aha!
LAUNCH!
“I have this awesome idea for a new product!!!”
Incr
easi
ng D
isso
nanc
e
Feature freeze
Technical debt that cannot be paid off
Typical Software Project
Lead with Dev Lead with Ops
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 40
Project Kick-Off
Bugs level off Calm build-out
Design Aha!
LAUNCH!
Incr
easi
ng D
isso
nanc
e
Feature freeze
Technical SURPLUS!
Atypical Software Project
Lead with Dev Lead with Ops
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Expand Feature Set, increase
entropy
Version n Version n+1
Refactor, lower
entropy, pay off
technical debt
Release!
Simplified View
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99%
1%
Sturgeon’s Law
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Time
Entr
opy
Real projects will likely follow some sort of bathtub curve in the best case
Sacred phase Milking phase
Put product out of its misery
(and maybe the business itself as well)
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Chasm
Early
Market
Bowling Alley
Tornado
Main Street
Technology adoption lifecycle, Geoffrey Moore, Dealing with Darwin
(yeah, basically this, upside down…)
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 45
The Hero’s Journey REQUIRES Both Fox and Hedgehog tendencies Fox = fall off the wagon/go on adventure Hedgehog = return with deepened sense of the sacred
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 46
Definition: QUALITY
repeatedly rediscovering the sacred amidst seemingly profane change
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 47
inevitable change
sacred constants
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10/17/2013 Venkatesh G. Rao 48
thank you
Consultant: someone who steals your watch and offers to tell you the time
Acknowledgements A lot of people who prefer not to be named.