In this episode of Adventures in DevOps the pane interviews Adam Nowak. Adam is a part of the DevOps team at Netguru. He joins the panel today to share his DevOps transformation story. Adam starts by explaining the title he chose for today’s episode. He also shares his definition of DevOps.

Adam explains the age-old story of a misunderstood DevOps team that was overworked and underappreciated. The organization grew but the DevOps team didn’t scale with it, leaving them with piles of tickets and everyone else wondering what was taking so long. The panel commiserates with Adam and shares some of their own similar stories. 

Reaching out to others to help solve the problem, Adam found that many DevOps teams had and are experiencing the same problem. He found help from others in the DevOps space and recommended books. His team started by making their work more visible. To do this they streamlined their communication and published documentation. 

Next, they made more focused goals. Instead of trying to do everything and never meeting their goals they chose a couple things to work on and focused on that. Another change they made was to diversify their meetings, projects, and initiatives; they brought in people from all the teams to collaborate, making the projects even better. 

The panel discusses the importance of empathy in the workplace and in life. Most people are trying their best and probably have a reason for doing the things that they are doing. Instead of treating others as if they are incompetent, talk them and discuss the reasons behind their actions and decisions. 

Nell Shamrell-Harrington

Charles Max Wood

Adam Nowak

CacheFly

How we killed DevOps by creating a dedicated DevOps team | Adam Nowak

The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win 

Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work & Flow 

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement  

The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations 

Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs 

Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations 

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard 

https://www.facebook.com/Adventures-in-DevOps-345350773046268/

Charles Max Wood:

Holiday Inn 

White Christmas 

The MaxCoders Guide To Finding Your Dream Developer Job 

Nell Shamrell-Harrington:

The Mandalorian

Rust in Motion 

Adam Nowak:

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

Jabra Elite 85h Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones

Special Guest: Adam Nowak.