DOES20

"We just need to change the process"

"we need to get 10x developers"

"We just need to do SCRUM "properly" again"

"We just need to ship X times a day"

Anti-pattern: "Maximize velocity." Related: "Compare velocity from team to team". (The right pattern in this context: "Minimize volatility").

"we just had the wrong person in the role"

"We don't have time/money for the people thing"

ERP

"we should adopt the Spotify model"

"This would be better if we just changed cloud provider"

"We need 'full stack' developers so they can take responsibility of every part of the cycle"

"no ops"

"Management likes this Agile thing, it's the developers that won't play ball"

we do daily standups (aka status reports) so "We're Agile!"

"Why were your estimates wrong?"

"DevOps may be nice but doesn't work for OUR stuff"

"You read too many books" 😂

"Let's just do DevOps"

"We DO make our people feel heard, we do yearly employee surveys!"

Its too risky

You're gonna love this one @RealGeneKim #OverheardInEuropeanBank "Now I gotta read about Unicorns?!?"

We'll add on monitoring later

Show them the connection between flexibility and resilience. How those who find ways to revel in the unknown mathematically end up doing better and being happier than those stuck in the fear of risk.

Change isn't something you accept--it's something you create. If teams aren't creating change themselves, then it's not a transformation.

get them to propose it

Show the how change brings in value, and how their/customers life will shift to the better.. nothing drives change more than alignment

Don't surprise them; sell the benefits of the change; make sure they have support to make the change (training, time, budget).

teams are eager to change when they feel they have a voice. If they aren't being listened to, why should they accept it?

More importantly still, show them how change binds them and how resilience is part of their #PsychologicalSafety team magic and they'll ask for more opportunities to change course!

I've found so much more success with embedding continuous change and improvement when the focus is not a KPI but reducing friction and stress in the workplace and getting everyone focused on how much easier they can make their colleagues jobs

I always lead with Kaizen. We can always get better right? If you think that the way things are working are the best they could ever possibly be, then you should definitely not change anything. ;)

build a movement. Grow energy and excitement around change. Make it fun, reward those that are changing, and more of the late adopters will start to pivot.

Empathize with them. Show them that you understand the things that are causing them pain now and that you're open to change, but to do it you need to work together. Make the discussion engaging - whiteboards, post-its, whatever drives excitement in the team

Also, the Kotter steps are a good template for that. In fact @short_louise is giving a talk on that exact thing right now at @DevOpsNotts!

great example of how to build a learning culture 😺

I am now an expert in how to vote in my local jurisdiction.

I learned I wasn't sharing with my team the problems that were most in my mind.

The more senior you are, the simpler your message has to be.

I learned the financial process at my company so I can make sure my team gets $$

...otherwise, the message is too prone to misinterpretation/miscommunication/etc.

"The Availability Heuristic"--the way our most available memories, either because they are recent, or because of the emotional impact they had on us, or because of how vivid the memory is, often impairs our ability to make sound judgements.

Not necessarily a learning per se, but a validation - no environment is like prod other than prod. Test in prod itself!

This is especially problematic in command and control organizations, where messages must pass down from the top to the bottom. This matters less when your job as a leader is to support, not to dictate.

Learned about the GI Joe Fallacy - from the same course- where they dismantle that "knowledge is half the battle" in the sense that more emphasis should be put on practice/habit creation

@DuenaBlomstrom the 3rd way of DevOps! Repetition and practice lead to mastery.

How bad I am at translating leadership messages when I'm not 100% on the bus

You don't. If you're starting with a position that you want others to "buy into", you've already lost. If you want someone to change, you have to make it *there* idea.

Have them read the Accelerate State of DevOps report and furnish them with a handout of the financial figures of the respondents. “That’s what they do. This is how they’re winning.” Really have them read it though, stand by their shoulder. Sending links won’t do!

Convince them with real use cases! Living examples of other enterprises doing great transformations works the best!

All leaders (and humans!) want to know what's in it for them and the business. Now that we've got great stuff like Accelerate, that's not hard to do!

I've had the most success with the "roadshow" : meeting the members of the senior leadership team in 1on1 settings. You are more likely to be able to target your pitch to their individual interests and questions, and you can often get more candid feedback this way.

by focusing on business problems with the transformation as the means, not the end.

@jon_moore I'm so excited that you're sharing your philosophies about the role of the Chief Architect at #does20 — it's fascinating for me to see the spectrum of "gentle nudge" to "everyone must."

I don't see buy in as a huge challenge (who doesn't want move value, cheaper, better, faster). It's the lean in that leaders need to do, their words, actions, etc., to champion and support the change throughout the org thats a bit harder.

helping leaders understand how their role and approach needs to change will help with the lean in..

Small and quick wins might get you some interest from sponsoring parties, however when it comes to bigger changes and sustained efforts, it'll be easier if you find a strong champion that is already promoting other isolated initiatives to solve the issues that DevOps addresses