DevOps is Not War

Presented at Triangle DevOps: https://www.meetup.com/triangle-devops/events/257189603/

Over the past 500 years, there have been 16 cases of a rising power threatening to displace a ruling power. 75% of those cases resulted in war. Although your organizational transformation probably won’t lead to war, it could be contentious. History can help prevent conflict when driving change. This talk will analyze human tendencies, historical data, and provide real-world examples of how to prevent conflict during your DevOps journey.

Transcript

1. DevOps is Not War Chris Short Red Hat @ChrisShort devopsish.com
2. whoami @ChrisShort devopsish.com Here's where every speaker tries to establish why they're standing in front of you. I work on the Ansible team at Red Hat I'm a Cloud Native Computing Foundation Ambassador I'm a community moderator and DevOps co-lead at opensource.com I run a DevOps, Cloud Native, and Open Source newsletter called DevOps'ish I'm a contributor to a book on IT Culture Change
3. I've spoken at many events My apartment smells of rich mahogany, blah, blah, blah
4. @ChrisShort devopsish.com BREATHE, CHRIS Here's where I convince you I know about war Me sitting on a toilet underneath a Cisco switch is very convincing isn't it? I served in the Air Force from 1999 to 2010 I spent time in a lot of "fun" places Like the deserts of the Middle East and jungles of Central America The VA classifies me as a, "partially disabled OEF
5. and OIF veteran"
6. Your Chances of Taking Fire During Day-to-Day Operations* ~0% * Research conducted by the Chris Short Academy of Pre-Talk Statistics Gathering (He Made it Up) @ChrisShort devopsish.com I want to be 100% clear DevOps is NOT War In general, do not use military tactics in your organizations Long term psychological damage these processes and policies cause They are inherently designed to do one thing; overcome an enemy For most people, no one dies if that prod deploy fails
7. A computer will give you inaccurate data if you ask for it A bullet never lies and is straight to the point https://twitter.com/ChrisShort/status/108586393987 3767424
8. @ChrisShort devopsish.com Today we’re going to talk about conflicts… Conflicts occur in digital transformations all the time Show of hands… Who has gotten into a disagreement about how to implement big changes at work? What if I told you there’s a reason for that and it’s rooted in history.
9. Getting Started History can help can prevent conflict when driving change. ➔ Thucydides Who is Thucydides? ➔ Graham Allison Who is Graham Allison? ➔ Thucydides Trap What is it? Why should we care? @ChrisShort devopsish.com First let's tackle the history piece of this talk Who are Thucydides and Graham Allison? What is Thucydides Trap?
10. Thucydides c. 460 – c. 400 BC Athenian historian and general History of the Peloponnesian War "Father of Scientific History" "Father of the school of political realism" Photo: Walter Maderbacher @ChrisShort devopsish.com LET'S SAY THUCYDIDES TOGETHER Thucydides was an Athenian historian and general Wrote History of the Peloponnesian War Recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens Used impartiality, evidence gathering, and cause and effect in works Did not reference intervention by the gods, which was quite common then
11. Photo: U.S. Naval War College Graham Allison American political scientist Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard US national security and defense policy analyst Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service recipient @ChrisShort devopsish.com Graham Allison Harvard professor and American political scientist Advisor and consultant to the Pentagon in the 1960s Member of the Secretary of Defense's Defense Policy Board since 1985 Best known as a political scientist for his book Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1971)
12. Thucydides Trap Allison coined "Thucydides Trap" "Refers to the natural, inevitable discombobulation that occurs when a rising power threatens to displace a ruling power." "This can happen in any sphere." Source: Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? @ChrisShort devopsish.com "Thucydides’s Trap refers to the natural, inevitable discombobulation that occurs when a rising power threatens to displace a ruling power." "This can happen in any sphere." "Intentions aside, when a rising power threatens to displace a ruling power, the resulting structural stress makes a violent clash the rule, not the exception."
13. Portugal vs. Spain ☮ France vs. Hapsburgs Hapsburgs vs. Ottoman Empire Hapsburgs vs. Sweden Dutch Republic vs. England France vs. Great Britain United Kingdom vs. France France and United Kingdom vs. Russia France vs. Germany "Over the past 500 years, in sixteen cases a major rising power has threatened to displace a ruling power. In twelve of those, the result was war" China and Russia vs. Japan United Kingdom vs. United States ☮ United Kingdom (supported by France, Russia) vs. Germany (aka WWI) Soviet Union, France, and United Kingdom vs. Germany (aka WWII) United States vs. Japan (aka WWII) United States vs. Soviet Union (aka Cold War) ☮ United Kingdom and France vs. Germany ☮ @ChrisShort devopsish.com 12 out of 16 cases the past 500 years Where a rising power threatened an established power Resulted in war They are all listed here from Portugal vs. Spain (Late 5th Century) To the post-Cold War UK and France vs. Germany (1990s—Now)
14. "The four cases that avoided this outcome did so only because of huge, painful adjustments in attitudes and actions on the part of challenger and challenged alike." Source: Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? @ChrisShort devopsish.com "The four cases that avoided this outcome did so only because of huge, painful adjustments in attitudes and actions on the part of challenger and challenged alike."
15. Bridging the Gap Let's bridge the gap between Thucydides's Trap and DevOps or "Digital Transformation" ➔ Dev and Ops Closer than ever ➔ Fear What are we afraid of as technologists? ➔ UK vs. US (Early 20th Century) How did this transition end peacefully? @ChrisShort devopsish.com Quick overview of the state of DevOps Humans are, in general, fearful We're going to look at the transition from the British Empire to the United States as the world's #1
16. @ChrisShort devopsish.com Let's Talk about Dev and Ops for a moment The divide here is closing (if not already closed) Only the outliers remain (aka not Silicon Valley)
17. @ChrisShort devopsish.com DevOps is happening Earlier this year we at SJ Technologies responded to a call for help from USSTRATCOM Long story short, USSTRATCOM controls US nuclear weapons strategy and use The US nuclear weapons program is adopting DevOps and Agile practices
18. If you want to read USSTRATCOM's Agile DevOps call out https://cshort.co/nukeops @ChrisShort devopsish.com In case you don't believe me here is a shortened URL for USSTRATCOM's Agile DevOps call out Go to https://cshort.co/nukeops
19. Malarkey! Your organization has no excuse. "That won't work here." @ChrisShort devopsish.com US nuclear weapons programs are embracing DevOps I literally don't want to hear that won't work here ever again in my life But, I know I will Why is that? I think we all know why.
20. Fear "It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable." Source: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs @ChrisShort devopsish.com "It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable." Fear can lead to wars. Challenging the status quo can have horrible side effects
21. Fear Causes Resistance "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." —Jedi Master Yoda @ChrisShort devopsish.com Humans fear change "Fear leads to anger Anger leads to hate Hate leads to suffering"
22. Fear It's the rise of something new (DevOps) and the fear it instills in people that makes conflict possible. @ChrisShort devopsish.com It's the rise of something new and the fear it instills in people that makes conflict possible.
23. United Kingdom vs. United States Early 20th Century Peaceful transition between established world power and rising super power US economy outpaced UK economy "a war with America … has become something more than a possibility." Teddy Roosevelt expanded US Navy Monroe Doctrine led to UK having no allies in Western Hemisphere UK conceded global power to focus on European issues pre-WWI Source: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs @ChrisShort devopsish.com Let’s look to the most recent, successful, and peaceful transfer of global power By 1916, American GDP would overtake the combined economy of the entire British Empire British PM, "a war with America, not this year but in the not distant future — has become something more than a possibility." "I would never quarrel with the United States if I could possibly avoid it." —First Lord of the Admiralty, 1901 "Special Relationship" was formed
24. @ChrisShort devopsish.com This is the UK at its territorial territorial peak This massive empire opted out of global domination because it required war with the US The UK decided not to oppose provocative US behaviors Concede global domination to the US for the betterment of both societies When WWI came in 1914, US was an essential supplier of materiel to the UK Joined the fight tipping the scales towards Allied
25. victory
26. Bettering Our World DevOps isn't merely automation or tearing down silos. DevOps is about improving business outcome and work environments. ➔ DevOps: The War Crime Are we going about this wrong? ➔ What About Everyone Else Security, Networking, etc. ➔ DevOps Isn’t Just for IT Don't discredit those not writing code ➔ Change and Failing Fast @ChrisShort devopsish.com DevOps is seen as a sea change that impacts people's lives Let's not forget about everyone else on this journey Change and Failing Fast is to be embraced and loved
27. DevOps: War Crime? What happens to my job? Will I have to completely relearn everything I know? I’ve worked so hard to get here and now I have to pivot?!? "Should I just retire now?" @ChrisShort devopsish.com Some people feel threatened by the cloud, fast changes, etc. Remember, humans inherently fear change People incessantly worry about their future (I'm one of you) Remember a few of years ago when every DevOps talk was about empathy? Empathy is still important and goes a long way here
28. What About Networking? What happens when you need more hardware? Eek! Network Engineers are awesome at VLANs, subnets, NAT, VPNs, etc. Imagine if your network folks could automate and iterate as fast as you @ChrisShort devopsish.com Great you can deploy code and "infrastructure" on commit enabling multiple releases a week/day/hour/minute If you need more hardware for your office or on-prem solutions who you gonna call? Network Engineers! They are awesome at VLANs, subnets, NAT, VPNs, etc. Wait… that sounds like VPCs! Imagine if your network folks could automate and
29. iterate as fast as you A rising tide lifts all boats Bring them in on that so you don't shoot yourself in the foot. Skilling up more people helps the company a ton
30. What About Security? DevSecOps is a necessary term Will I have to completely relearn everything I know? I’ve worked so hard to get here and now I have to pivot?!? "Should I just retire now?" @ChrisShort devopsish.com If your security organization is the group of “no” you’re going to have a bad time But, they're going to have a harder time in the long run as folks work them out of the system Look to leadership to help bring them on board if need be DevSecOps is a thing (“SJ sells it, we have fliers”) Shift security left Run pentesting in the pipeline
31. Routinely scan source code for vulnerabilities Vulnerability scanning as a commit-hook Prove to Security DevOps helps their cause More secure software baked in the process
32. DevOps Isn’t Just for IT Business processes matter The more allies the better C-Suite, Marketing, Legal, Sales, Finance, etc. can all help @ChrisShort devopsish.com Being lowercase agile as an organization requires more than just development and operations Eventually your DevOps transformation will bump into these weird things called business processes Some business processes will need to be changed along the way C-Suite, Marketing, Legal, Sales, Finance, etc. can all help Don’t discredit those not writing code Everyone can be helpful tearing down walls of
33. confusion
34. Change and Failing Fast Different isn’t always bad "Throwing good money after bad" Safety 1 vs. Safety 2 — Check out Sidney Dekker's works Remember: Pulling the Andon Cord is Good @ChrisShort devopsish.com Either you’re a learning organization or you’re losing to one —Andrew Clay Shafer We inherently value success You can’t learn from mistakes if you never make them We all agree cars are better than horses and buggies Figuring out a dud early is better than dumping millions into a failure Safety 1 vs. Safety 2 — Check out Sidney Dekker's
35. works Andon Cord info in Beyond the Phoenix Project
36. Conclusion They won't let me talk forever We know people can feel threatened by DevOps Finding Allies and creating successes together is key (UK & US in WWI) Early inclusion and concessions are keys to success Fail fast Be a learning organization @ChrisShort devopsish.com
37. I must study politics and war that my [children] may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. John Adams, 2nd President of the United States @ChrisShort devopsish.com I love this quote but I hate the gender specificity of it This is kinda how I approach life We must study how to transform the way we work so that others can study what comes next Making the world a better place starts in your environment
38. Thank You @ChrisShort devopsish.com