patton & gandhi - the redemption of wes : devops enterprise 2014
DESCRIPTION
This presentation was shared at DevOps Enterprise 2014 and is meant to help leaders understand how to develop influence and drive change in consensus based organiztionsTRANSCRIPT
WARNING! If you believe in certainty and
control, you may find this session uncomfortable.
Gandhi & Patton “The Redemption of Wes”
Prologue:
Professional History
A Little Bit About Autotrader
What We Have Accomplished
In the last 3 1/2 years, the team that I work with has:
• Created a relationship with bi-directional accountability with our business partners
• Broke all HR metrics for employee satisfaction in one of the largest teams in the company
• Retired 2 legacy API platforms and built a new state of the art RESTful services platform that drives several billion dollars in revenue and powers all of our mobile products
• Started a journey of full QA and network automation
• Swapped out our: • search engine • ad platform • ESB • services gateway • web application stack • CRM platform • mobile application stack • intranet platform • BI tagging solution
• Captured the high ground on • DevOps • Automation • Speed/Quality/MTTR
I know exactly how you feel.
SXSW 2012 - When IT says no
Do you work in a consensus driven
enterprise?
Do you find yourself frustrated by the pace of
change?
Which of these sound familiar?
Automation costs too much and it won’t
work anyway.
We’ve tried that before and it failed.
Why should the business pay for that?
We want humans to make those changes.
We make too many mistakes now. Why do you want to speed up?
That sounds like a ‘you’ problem.
How do you respond?
Have you heard the one about the guy who would rather have a hole in his
organization?
Where’s Wes?
Here’s Wes - You can tell by the wild
gestures and flying fingers
Where’s Wes?
HBR’s simple wisdom from 2005
HBR’s simple wisdom from 2005
results regardless of
form
form regardless of
results
i.e., Results are insufficient if a
reasonable amount of form is not present
In order to not slow adoption down, you must transcend the “jerk paradox”
In order to not slow adoption down, you must transcend the “jerk paradox”
followed
Easier said than done
But not impossible if you understand trust and
conversational dynamics
Creating change in a consensus organization is like riding a bike
When riding up hill, form is the more critical success factor
When riding downhill, unwavering commitment to results is the critical success factor
These two contexts and leadership orientations can be mapped to two different leadership modes
Uphill - Gentle pressure persistently applied
Downhill - Maniacal pressure relentlessly applied
Trust dynamics help you to understand which one
to apply
Circle of Gandhi
Circle of Patton
People who implicitly trust
you regardless of appearances
People who implicitly
distrust you regardless of
appearances
The critical factor to account for, is the degree of trust placed in you by the audiences you are attempting to inspire
What was Patton’s mistake here?
Patton acted in a manner that others, in absence of knowing Patton, would
jump to the wrong conclusion
If full knowledge of Patton’s character were known by all witnesses, what would have been
different?
What did Gandhi do right here?
Gandhi demonstrated his commitment to his ideals
by being willing to sacrifice the relationship that he valued the most...
AND HE APOLOGIZED
If full knowledge of Gandhi’s character were
not known by all witnesses, what would have been different?
Let’s break it down
In the circle of Patton:
Raise the bar higher (unless you are dancing
the limbo)
Never be ashamed to ask for excellence
Aim for this zone
Of course it’s hard to automate everything. What’s your
point? I thought we were a group of badasses who relished challenges. Was I
wrong?
We must automate everything, including the concept of
automation! Build me a robot capable of building other robots! And do it
yesterday!
We can automate almost everything! It’s just a matter of time and persistence.
Who’s with me?
Religiously strive for collegiality
Aim for this zone
If you have a better idea, let’s hear it. This isn’t a shop of HIPPOs and LIPPOs.
What happens over time
In the circle of Gandhi:
Step 0: Assume positive intent
Step 0: Assume positive intent
Thanks for leaning into change and making
this happen!
Step 0: Assume positive intent
Thanks for staying positive. I know it’s hard not
to get frustrated.
Step 0: Assume positive intent
Please borrow my copy of The Speed of Trust
Step 0: Assume positive intent
Maybe you are right, but it still would be better for you to
have figured out a way to resolve this at your level
I know exactly how you feel.
Step 1: Empathize
Step 2: Point to higher ground
Step 3: Wait
Step 4: Repeat
What happens over time
Circle of Gandhi
Circle of Patton
Circle of Gandhi
Circle of Patton
and…
Pitfalls to watch out for
Being branded as “the lovable fool” (i.e., you are all about form and can’t execute)
Being branded as “the lovable fool” (i.e., you are all about form and can’t execute)
Circle of Gandhi
Circle of Patton
The attitudes of the newly converted are highly volatile
Solution: Don’t stay static. Seek Balance
Aim for this zone
Of course it’s hard to automate everything. What’s your
point? I thought we were a group of badasses who relished challenges. Was I
wrong?
We must automate everything, including the concept of
automation! Build me a robot capable of building other robots! And do it
yesterday!
We can automate almost everything! It’s just a matter of time and persistence.
Who’s with me?
Allowing frustration to creep in when being told “no”
Press inward too hard
“Yes” is the destination. “No” is how you get there.
Press inward too hard
Pressing inward too hard results in unforeseen costs
Aim High Celebrate Small Wins
Retreat, to the territory of the
lovable fool
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Epilogue
Why I’m Here
I’m a product of my environment (i’m a redeemed Wes) • My education, relationships & experience have combined
together to allow me to form the perspective that I shared today; Hopefully you’ll find it valuable.
• The daily activities that help me achieve the self mastery necessary to make this approach work are:
• Writing & journaling • Teaching others • Making a habit of ruthless introspection • Play-testing & role-play (come try this out with me to see for yourself) • Having children • Being married to an award winning artist • Working for a Marine • Surrounding myself with people who care about me and seeking out
meaningful feedback • Treating all feedback as a contribution • Making it a priority to demonstrate visible incorporation of the feedback
provided to me
Three Things I Need Help With
Taking automation to the next level • Automating tag validation, building out a canary
infrastructure, data-centric services validation, automated performance and load tests, decreasing automation cycle times, etc.!
Finding DevOps, Automation & Performance talent in Atlanta • I’m on the lookout for awesome engineers and architects
!Feedback on today’s presentation
• How can I make this idea more relevant and meaningful to people who work in enterprises of all sizes
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Questions?
