An edited version of a talk I did for the DevOps community at Riot Games.

1. Sacred Riots
Venkatesh Rao

2. A lightly edited version of a talk I did
for the DevOps group at Riot Games.
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
2

3. I am...
•
•
•
•
An aerospace engineer (PhD, control theory, U. Michigan, 2003)
10 years in academic research/startup/big company
Since 2011 – independent researcher, consultant, writer
Not a gamer! Last relevant experience, playing Myth in 1998
vgr@ribbonfarm.com
Twitter: @vgr
Blog: http://ribbonfarm.com
Physical coordinates: Seattle
Summoner Name: napdar
Status: intimidated n00b
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
3

4. And you are…
Main Street
Tornado
HERE…
Early
Market
Chasm
Bowling Alley
Technology adoption lifecycle, Geoffrey Moore, Dealing with Darwin

5. Congrats on the MOBA land grab...
Source: Venturebeat, July 2013
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
5

6. Organizational challenges
But can you defend your nexus?
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
6

7. by dealing with
inevitable change
While keeping the
sacred constant
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
7

8. inevitable
change
Organizational challenges
•
•
•
•
10/17/2013
Growing faster than culture can adapt
Paving cowpaths faster than they are forming
From one win to winning as a habit
Cash to burn = bad habits form faster than good
Venkatesh G. Rao
8

9. inevitable
change
Technology challenges
•
•
•
•
•
10/17/2013
NEW technical debt loci
Docker, CoreOS
Oculus VR
AR gaming on horizon
LEAP controller…
Venkatesh G. Rao
9

10. inevitable
change
Market challenges
•
•
•
•
•
Console and PC gaming both threatened by mobile
Narrow demographics/psychographics risk (males 18-35)
Blizzard, Valve etc. are not going to sit still
Potential changing tastes
Evolution in gaming aesthetics
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
10

11. sacred
constants?
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
11

12. So…DevOps, eh?
(among other things)
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
12

13. Jenkins
DRY
Agile
foundations
Lean
Workflows
High Frequency
Deployments
Minimize Recovery Time
Vs.
Maximize MTBF
Continuous
Integration
Automated
Acceptance
Testing
Chef
Deployment
Automation
DevOps
Idea Maze*
Monitoring
Workflows
Nagios
No cancerous stealth
Trust-based
autonomy
10/17/2013
Extreme team
cohesiveness
Highly open
communications
Venkatesh G. Rao
Codified
expectations
Distributed
Expertise
Automated
Rollbacks
Containerization
(Docker…)
No obstructionism
No-asshole rule
Extreme
Virtualization
Cross-trained
skillsets
Rapid onboarding
of new team members
shu-ha-ri
http://cdixon.org/2013/08/04/the-idea-maze/
13

14. True North?
a sense of the sacred within an idea maze
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
14

15. You’re going to deploy some configuration
of people and processes to navigate this
idea maze.
What happens if they lack a sense of
True North?
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
15

16. When there is no instinctive sense of
the sacred that a process protects, the
process itself becomes sacralized.
This is a CARGO CULT
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
16

17. When there is no process, powerful
INDIVIDUALS with secrets* are
sacralized
This is a CULT OF PERSONALITY
*Necessary in early startup phase, see Thiel/Dixon definition
of “secret”, toxic if it persists with growth
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
17

18. True North is when this argument ends
quickly and usefully each time
People over Process
Process over People
(if these arguments never happen, you have a bigger problem)
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
18

19. Wu Wei
The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self
The highest kindness is to give without a condition
The highest justice is to see without a preference
When Tao is lost one must learn the rules of virtue
When virtue is lost, the rules of kindness
When kindness is lost, the rules of justice
When justice is lost, the rules of conduct
-- Tao Te Ching, Verse 38, trans. Jonathan Star
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
19

20. For smart people trapped in a cargo cult OR a cult
of personality, software engineering turns into a …
…“nexus of SUCK”*
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
20

21. Nexus of Suck
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
21

22. Bigger Nexus of Suck
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
22

23. Biggest Nexus of Suck
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
23

24. Are there REALLY 10 different conflicts here?
Let’s dig deeper.
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
24

25. Two negative
archetypes
Hidebound
Bureaucratic
Holier-than-thou
Naïve
Boring
Risk-averse
Predictable
Inconsistent
Unreliable
Duplicitous
Selfish
Irresponsible
Scheming
Bullshitter
Which do you
dislike more?
25

26. “The fox knows many things, the
hedgehog knows one big thing.”
-- Archilocus
The philosophy primer: http://bit.ly/Ysr7ja
26

27. See Hedgehogs as
Hedgehogs
Foxes
See Foxes as
Consistent
Conscientious
Fair
Selfless
Responsible
Trustworthy
Realistic
Inconsistent
Unreliable
Duplicitous
Selfish
Irresponsible
Scheming
Bullshitter
Hidebound
Bureaucratic
Holier-than-thou
Naïve
Boring
Risk-averse
Predictable
Open-minded
Resourceful
Adaptable
Worldly
Interesting
Adventurous
Imaginative
27

28. WARNING!
NOT a 1:1 mapping between
fox/hedgehog and dev/ops
See Steve Yegge on conservative versus liberal programmers…
https://plus.google.com/110981030061712822816/posts/KaSKeg4vQtz
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
28

29. Sacred stability
curling up and
resisting change
Profane riots
chaos for the
hell of it
complementary modes of
arrested development
Attributions:
Fox: Rob Lee
Hedgehog: Lars Karlsson
29

30. Sacred Riots
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
30

31. “GTD doesn’t stop you falling off the wagon; it
makes it easier to get back on.” – David Allen
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
31

32. Candidate for the TAO of DevOps?
If you stay stuck for long
you’re doing it wrong
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
32

33. Where foxes get
terminally stuck,
hedgehogs get started
Foxes are most
comfortable finding
direction
Hedgehogs are most
comfortable developing
momentum
Where hedgehogs
get terminally stuck,
foxes get started

34. Can foxes and hedgehogs operate
with a shared sense of the sacred?
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
34

35. Sacred
Adventure
Love
Hedgehog
Fox
Boredom
Betrayal
Profane
35

36. Adventure + Love + Boredom + Betrayal
=
NARRATIVE
DevOps is ultimately a series of stories big
and small about repeatedly rediscovering
the sacred amidst seemingly profane change
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
36

37. Example: Lord of the Rings
Increasing Dissonance
Ring Destroyed
Fellowship formed
Elves head West
Two Towers
Bilbo’s
birthday
Reasons why Frodo
can’t stay in the Shire
Gandalf v. Balrog
Encounter with Ringwraiths
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
Frodo v. Spider
37

38. Double Freytag Narrative Structure
Increasing Entropy
Separation Event
Cheap Trick
Valley
Evolved doctrine
“Moral of the story”
Liminal Passage
10/17/2013
Liminal Passage
Venkatesh G. Rao
38

39. Typical Software Project
Increasing Dissonance
Lead with Dev
Lead with Ops
LAUNCH!
Design Aha!
Calm build-out
Feature freeze
Technical debt that cannot be paid off
Project Kick-Off
“I have this awesome idea for a new product!!!”
10/17/2013
Bugs level off
Venkatesh G. Rao
39

40. Atypical Software Project
Increasing Dissonance
Lead with Dev
Lead with Ops
LAUNCH!
Design Aha!
Calm build-out
Feature freeze
Bugs level off
Project Kick-Off
Technical SURPLUS!
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
40

41. Simplified View
Release!
Expand
Feature Set, increase
entropy
Version n
Refactor, lower
entropy, pay off
technical debt
Version n+1

42. Sturgeon’s Law
99%
1%

43. Entropy
Real projects will likely follow some sort
of bathtub curve in the best case
Sacred phase
Milking phase
Put product
out of its
misery
(and maybe
the business
itself as well)
Time

44. (yeah, basically this, upside down…)
Main Street
Tornado
Early
Market
Chasm
Bowling Alley
Technology adoption lifecycle, Geoffrey Moore, Dealing with Darwin

45. The Hero’s Journey REQUIRES
Both Fox and Hedgehog tendencies
Fox = fall off the wagon/go on adventure
Hedgehog = return with deepened sense of the sacred
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
45

46. Definition: QUALITY
repeatedly rediscovering the sacred amidst
seemingly profane change
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
46

47. inevitable change
sacred constants
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
47

48. Consultant: someone who steals your
watch and offers to tell you the time
Acknowledgements
A lot of people who prefer not to be named.
thank you
10/17/2013
Venkatesh G. Rao
48