Philosophy on Metrics

Jeff Gallimore Uncategorized

GSFC_SpaceTelescopeOperationsControl.jpg

I love spreadsheets, charts, graphs, and numbers. Tracking quantifiable metrics gives me comfort and a sense of control (those two feelings go together for me). Metrics help me understand what’s going on and give me insights to take action. In that respect, I’ve often felt I would fit right in at Etsy. In my experience, I’ve also discovered that clearly identifying who is accountable for something and establishing the metrics you’ll use to evaluate success for that something are powerful clarifying tools in actually achieving the outcomes you want. The “how” and “when” usually fall into place after establishing the “who” and the “what”.

I’ve also discovered some pitfalls with metrics. I’ve recently challenged my thinking about metrics and their value. Here are some of my insights.
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We’re Better Together: DevOps, Security, Audit, and Compliance

Jeff Gallimore Uncategorized , ,
nomnomnom from Katheirne Hitt
“nomnomnom” by Katheirne Hitt is licensed under CC BY 2.0

I’ve been on a kick recently about how DevOps, security, audit, and compliance all fit together. Spoiler alert: they all do fit together. In fact, we’re better off individually and collectively when we bring security, audit, and compliance into the DevOps tent and treat them like we would any other function that has valuable expertise to contribute to help our organizations win. We’d all benefit from what we can learn from each other.

I wrote about a few ways to do that on Excella’s blog. You can also get more information from a talk I gave a couple months ago on this same topic.

5 Tips for Leading a DevOps Transformation in Your Organization

Jeff Gallimore Uncategorized , ,
Red-Green Leaves from Garry Knight
“Red-Green Leaves” by Garry Knight is licensed under CC BY 2.0

I wrote for XebiaLabs on leading a DevOps transformation within your organization. It’s based on a white paper I co-authored with a bunch of really amazing people at Gene Kim’s DevOps Enterprise Forum in 2016. The post covers five simple (but not easy) tips for making progress on adoption of DevOps patterns and practices within your organization. The tips include understanding other people’s goals and the problems they face, identifying a target mindset, and then developing and executing a plan with the most effective tactics.

In retrospect, I’ve been writing a lot for other blogs and less so for myself. Whatever gets the word out and advances the cause, right?

Top 3 Insights from the 2017 State of DevOps Report

Jeff Gallimore Uncategorized
2017 State of DevOps Report

The 2017 State of DevOps Reportis out. As in previous years, it provides a lot of information about the state of DevOps within the industry and some of the important factors that differentiate high-performing organizations from their non-high-performing peers. I noted a few highlights from this year’s report: the impact of leadership, the continued misconception about the perceived tradeoff between throughput and stability, and autonomy with teams and architectures.

I wrote about my insights from this year’s report on Excella’s blog.

You can also see my insights from 2015 and 2016.

Book Review: “The Manager’s Path” by Camille Fournier

Jeff Gallimore Book Reviews ,

The Manager's Path book cover

I wish I had read The Manager’s Path by Camille Fournier twenty years ago when I started down the path of being a manager. I could have avoided a lot of pain, confusion, and conflict for myself and those I was managing. I agree with much of what is in the book about what works mainly because I learned the hard way about what doesn’t work.
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How I Want My Team to Feel After Meeting with Me

Jeff Gallimore Uncategorized ,
gauges from Jeanne Masar
“Gauges” by Jeanne Masar is licensed under CC BY 2.0

A few years ago, I went through some executive coaching individually and as a group. In one of the individual sessions, the coach and I were talking about my team and the meetings I had with them. The coach asked me how I wanted someone on my team to feel after meeting with me. I had to think about it because I had never been asked that question before. And yet, it was an incredibly important answer to have. After a minute or two, I came up with the following answer.
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Book Review: “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown

Jeff Gallimore Book Reviews ,

Essentialism book cover

Many of us have too much going on. Busy is the new status symbol. I’m no exception. And yet many of us also feel that while we do more and more, we actually accomplish less and less. I’m no exception on that point, either.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown is a response to that trend. It advocates for whittling down what we spend our time and energy on so we can focus on the few activities and efforts that will have the most impact. In truth, it should have been subtitled “The Disciplined Pursuit of Less but Better” (which is an actual quote from the book).

“Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.” (emphasis added)

If there is the concept of “essentialism”, there must be one of “nonessentialism”. In fact, the book contrasts the mindset, assumptions, decisions, and choices between “essentialism” and “nonessentialism”.
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Book Review: “Out of the Crisis” by W. Edwards Deming

Jeff Gallimore Book Reviews , ,

Out of the Crisis book cover

I’ve spent some time around John Willis, one of the thought leaders in the DevOps movement. If you spend any time at all around John, you’re bound to hear him talk about W. Edwards Deming and the idea that Deming laid many of the foundational principles and practices of DevOps. After reading Deming’s book, Out of the Crisis, I have to agree. And now I’m a fan of Deming, too. Not as much as John (just look at his Twitter avatar), but a big fan nonetheless.
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DevOps and Audit Resources

Jeff Gallimore Uncategorized ,
binary and magnifying glass

I’ve heard a lot of questions about DevOps, audit, compliance, and how they all fit together. I’ve fielded more questions from more people recently. In my mind, that means more people are applying DevOps patterns and practices to their work and the work they’re doing is real (as opposed to sandbox, pilot, or “let’s try this stuff out” projects). Why else would they be interested in audit and compliance?

Here are some resources that might be helpful if you’re “doing the DevOps” and interested in making audit and compliance efforts go more smoothly.
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