The Phoenix project is one of those books that's easy to dismiss. Some of the plot points are showing their age, and the simplification of some of the aspects of the plot does make it feel a little dated especially during the first 50 or so pages...the way internal functioning and problems with certain decision loops are in many ways ageless.
The fact that well-meaning people keep breaking things for perfectly valid reasons is shown really well there. If only getting an organization to buy into this type of management/stucture/process was this easy though. I've been part of intiatives where we bashed out heads against the wall for months (Even with executive sponsorship) without moving the needle. With that in mind though, the impacts of implementing this type of tracking and rigor to your organization/group/initiative is critically important.
While this book was clearly written with IT leaders in mind, I would make this required reading for anyone that's involved in any aspect of IT projects and delivery. Heck, I'm primarily in sales, and this made me aware of ways that I could improve my cycles and how to discuss and help deliver projects to my clients.
Even if you don't believe in the methodology as outlined in the book, there's still a lot of good you can pull out of it.
The one downside of this book is that the way interpersonal relationships among the various characters are handled is just bad. All of these characters need to take some leadership and interpersonal dynamics courses...I could see how people in a real-world shop with similar dynamics would consider the environment toxic. It makes the quick buy-in and adoption of these programs all the more difficult, letting people slag each other openly in meetings with the VP not standing up for members of his team is just not a good way to get things going in business.
That's a minor nitpick in what is otherwise a great book with some truly great ideas as to how to identify, manage and resolve issues with IT teams and processes.
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From the Publisher
The Three Ways of DevOps
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The First Way of DevOps emphasizes the performance of the entire system, not a specific silo or department. The focus is placed on all business value streams that are enabled by IT. It begins when requirements are identified (the business or IT), are built (Development), and then transitioned into production (Operations). |
The Second Way of DevOps creates right-to-left feedback loops. The goal is to shorten and amplify feedback loops so that necessary corrections can be continually made. The Second Way facilitates understanding and responding to all customers, internal and external, and embedding knowledge where it is needed. |
The Third Way of DevOps encourages the creation of a culture that fosters continual experimentation (taking risks and learning from failure) and understanding that repetition and practice is the prerequisite to mastery. Practicing the Third Way of DevOps allocates time for the improvement of daily work, creates rituals that reward the team for taking risks, and introduces faults into the system to increase resilience. |
Gene Kim: Looking Into the Future
The problems that DevOps solves are at the center of what every modern organization is facing. When The Phoenix Project was first published in 2013, DevOps was primarily used in internet companies. Now, it has been amazing to see these principles and practices in large, complex organizations across every industry vertical. Now more than ever, technology is not just the nervous system of an organization—it actually composes the majority of the muscle mass. Without a doubt, the best times for technology are ahead of us, not behind us. There’s never been a better time to be in the technology field and to be a lifelong learner.
Relatively thick physical book, great reading start
Reviewed in Canada on March 2, 2020
I have a Kindle version and bought another one as a gift to a friend of mine who's starting an IT career.The physical book is fairly thick, so be prepared. The book is a novel and what I liked about it so far coming from IT background is that it illustrates real-life conversations and challenges IT people and companies go through, so it really gives you that feel of what working in DevOps or even if not non-technical, you get a chance to understand it in an easier manner.
Reviewed in Canada on March 2, 2020
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Top reviews from other countries
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The Pheonix Project is an IT Fable
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The book is pretty much about my daily life
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Somewhat simplified view of Devops delivered as a novel, still a bloody good read though!
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If you work in IT, read this.
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