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Screwing up for fun and profit

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Oliver Hankeln
Oliver Hankeln

This a talk for the DevopsDays in Ljubljana and Paris. You'll learn how to deal with mistakes and failure, how to perform post mortems and pre mortems and about patterns and anti-patterns in dealing with mistakes. This focuses more on the cultural side of IT and DevOps.

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Screwing up for fun and profit DevOpsDays 2015 Oliver Hankeln @mydalon
What is a mistake? A mistake is a decision or judgement that led to a negative outcome, which could have been prevented with the knowledge and resources available at the time.
Mistakes are a learning opportunity But a mistake is just like
 a lump of ore
Post mortem • Bring together people from all affected departments • Collect a timeline of events • Find the root cause • Define actions
Requirements for effective learning • Transparency • Finding the root cause • Trust • Respect
Anti-patterns • Hiding mistakes • Blame game • The Arc of Escalation • Cowardice
Anti-Pattern:
 Hiding mistakes • CEO Disease • Wasted learning opportunity • Sets the wrong example • Financial bonus often leads to hiding mistakes
Pattern: Proactive communication • Be open about the failure • Now have a post- mortem • Talk about what was learned
Anti-Pattern:
 Blaming • People get defensive • Aggression and fear disable learning • Root cause gets hidden
Pattern:
 Accepting • A post mortem is NOT a performance review • Focus on events, not on (groups of) people • Prime directive
The Prime Directive Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand. --Norm Kerth, Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews
Anti-Pattern:
 Arc of Escalation • You play Chinese Whispers • You force a blame game • You destroy trust
Interlude: An Experiment 2 — 4 — 8 What’s my rule? a1 < a2 < a3
Pattern:
 Talk to your peers • Be aware of confirmation bias • They are nice guys, really! • Try to switch perspectives
Anti-Pattern:
 Cowardice • Time wasted on formalities • No one wants to be responsible • Cause: punishing or firing people who screw up
Pattern: Embrace Failure • You are a ninja! • You are a scientist! • You are an adventurer!
Predicting Failure
 aka Pre mortem • Gather groups of people from different departments • Start with a catastrophic outcome • Have fun • Rinse. Repeat.

 Contact me! Oliver Hankeln Freelance DevOps & Agile Evangelist @mydalon oliver@hankeln-consulting.de
Image sources • Copper ore: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANatural_Copper_Ore_Macro_1.JPG; Jonathan Zander; CC-BY- SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons • Post mortem: http://catalogue.wellcomelibrary.org/record=b1102466; Photo number: L0075723; Wellcome Trust; CC-BY-4.0 • Boys at the lake: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABundesarchiv_Bild_102-00651%2C_Berlin %2C_Strandbad_Wannsee.jpg ; Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-00651 / CC-BY-SA; via Wikimedia Commons • Hand: https://openclipart.org/detail/192388/nice-manicule, public domain • Prairie dogs: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Kissing_Prairie_dog_edit_3.jpg; IBrocken Inaglory,;CC- BY-SA-3.0; via Wikimedia Commons • Nuclear test: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A%22Ivy_Mike%22_atmospheric_nuclear_test_- _November_1952_-_Flickr_-_The_Official_CTBTO_Photostream.jpg; By The Official CTBTO Photostream; CC-BY-2.0; via Wikimedia Commons • Talking men: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFotothek_df_ps_0000147_Zwei_alte_Herren_im_Gespr %C3%A4ch.jpg; Deutsche Fotothek; CC-BY-SA 3.0-de; via Wikimedia Commons • Paperwork:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lightmatter_paperwork.jpg; AaronLogan; CC-BY 2.5 Generic; vie Wikimedia Commons • Buzz Aldrin on the moon: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aldrin_Apollo_11_(jha).jpg; NASA, public domain; vie Wikimedia Commons • Crystal ball: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:John_Dee_s_Seal_Kristallkugel.jpg ; User „Steevie", CC-BY-SA 3.0/de

More Related Content

Screwing up for fun and profit

  • 1. Screwing up for fun and profit DevOpsDays 2015 Oliver Hankeln @mydalon
  • 2. What is a mistake? A mistake is a decision or judgement that led to a negative outcome, which could have been prevented with the knowledge and resources available at the time.
  • 3. Mistakes are a learning opportunity But a mistake is just like
 a lump of ore
  • 4. Post mortem • Bring together people from all affected departments • Collect a timeline of events • Find the root cause • Define actions
  • 5. Requirements for effective learning • Transparency • Finding the root cause • Trust • Respect
  • 6. Anti-patterns • Hiding mistakes • Blame game • The Arc of Escalation • Cowardice
  • 7. Anti-Pattern:
 Hiding mistakes • CEO Disease • Wasted learning opportunity • Sets the wrong example • Financial bonus often leads to hiding mistakes
  • 8. Pattern: Proactive communication • Be open about the failure • Now have a post- mortem • Talk about what was learned
  • 9. Anti-Pattern:
 Blaming • People get defensive • Aggression and fear disable learning • Root cause gets hidden
  • 10. Pattern:
 Accepting • A post mortem is NOT a performance review • Focus on events, not on (groups of) people • Prime directive
  • 11. The Prime Directive Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand. --Norm Kerth, Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews
  • 12. Anti-Pattern:
 Arc of Escalation • You play Chinese Whispers • You force a blame game • You destroy trust
  • 13. Interlude: An Experiment 2 — 4 — 8 What’s my rule? a1 < a2 < a3
  • 14. Pattern:
 Talk to your peers • Be aware of confirmation bias • They are nice guys, really! • Try to switch perspectives
  • 15. Anti-Pattern:
 Cowardice • Time wasted on formalities • No one wants to be responsible • Cause: punishing or firing people who screw up
  • 16. Pattern: Embrace Failure • You are a ninja! • You are a scientist! • You are an adventurer!
  • 17. Predicting Failure
 aka Pre mortem • Gather groups of people from different departments • Start with a catastrophic outcome • Have fun • Rinse. Repeat.
  • 18. 
 Contact me! Oliver Hankeln Freelance DevOps & Agile Evangelist @mydalon oliver@hankeln-consulting.de
  • 19. Image sources • Copper ore: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANatural_Copper_Ore_Macro_1.JPG; Jonathan Zander; CC-BY- SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons • Post mortem: http://catalogue.wellcomelibrary.org/record=b1102466; Photo number: L0075723; Wellcome Trust; CC-BY-4.0 • Boys at the lake: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABundesarchiv_Bild_102-00651%2C_Berlin %2C_Strandbad_Wannsee.jpg ; Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-00651 / CC-BY-SA; via Wikimedia Commons • Hand: https://openclipart.org/detail/192388/nice-manicule, public domain • Prairie dogs: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Kissing_Prairie_dog_edit_3.jpg; IBrocken Inaglory,;CC- BY-SA-3.0; via Wikimedia Commons • Nuclear test: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A%22Ivy_Mike%22_atmospheric_nuclear_test_- _November_1952_-_Flickr_-_The_Official_CTBTO_Photostream.jpg; By The Official CTBTO Photostream; CC-BY-2.0; via Wikimedia Commons • Talking men: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFotothek_df_ps_0000147_Zwei_alte_Herren_im_Gespr %C3%A4ch.jpg; Deutsche Fotothek; CC-BY-SA 3.0-de; via Wikimedia Commons • Paperwork:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lightmatter_paperwork.jpg; AaronLogan; CC-BY 2.5 Generic; vie Wikimedia Commons • Buzz Aldrin on the moon: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aldrin_Apollo_11_(jha).jpg; NASA, public domain; vie Wikimedia Commons • Crystal ball: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:John_Dee_s_Seal_Kristallkugel.jpg ; User „Steevie", CC-BY-SA 3.0/de