How to thwart your devops transformation with counterinsurgency doctrine

This session is a journey to the dark side.

The situation: You find yourself trying to halt the momentum building around a DevOps movement by a bunch of young upstarts in your organization. This emerging culture threatens the ways of working that have become standard (and comfortable) while building your career.

Your mission is to stop this DevOps transformation in its tracks.

Using the U.S. Army's Field Manual on Counterinsurgency, this session dives into the strategies and tactics used by the U.S. military to stop insurgencies and will teach attendees how to identify the other side's motivations so attendees can help advance a DevOps agenda within their organization.

Transcript

1. How to thwart your devops transformation with counterinsurgency doctrine Lindsay Holmwood @auxesis
2. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 2 The situation:
3. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 3 The situation: A bunch of young upstarts are trying to “do devops” at your job.
4. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 4 The situation: This threatens what you know and love about your job.
5. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 5 The situation: You need to stop this devops transformation in its tracks.
6. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 6 The solution?
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9. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 9 The objective?
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11. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 10 Capture this
12. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 11 “[Success requires the status quo] be accepted as legitimate by most of that uncommitted middle, which also includes passive supporters of both sides”
 – 1-108, FM 3-24
13. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 12 “it is usually not enough for counterinsurgents to get 51 percent of popular support; a solid majority is often essential”
 – 1-109, FM 3-24
14. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 13 The principles?
15. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 14 1. Understand the Environment 2. Insurgents Must Be Isolated from Their Cause and Support 3. Use the Appropriate Level of Force 4. Sometimes Doing Nothing is the Best Reaction
16. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 15 1. Understand the
 Environment
17. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 16 What is the 
 environment?
 culture + groups + narratives + values
18. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 17 Why devops?
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20. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 19 Agree with the goals, Question the methods
21. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 20 Destroy the community
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23. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 22
24. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 23
25. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 24
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27. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 26
28. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 27 If you can, 
 stop cloud adoption before it happens
29. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 28 Slow it down to the point it’s no more effective than doing things on-prem
30. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 29 Co-opt language: “Safe and reliable”
31. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 30 Co-opt language: “We are already doing continuous delivery”
32. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 31 Take advantage of your insurgents’ immaturity
33. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 32 Push as many changes as possible through
 change advisory boards
34. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 33
35. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 34 Use your intelligence
 
 The smarter you are, the better you are able to rationalize behavior to meet your goals.
36. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 35 2. Insurgents Must 
 Be Isolated 
 from their 
 Cause and Support
37. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 36 “It is easier to separate an insurgency from its resources and let it die than to kill every insurgent.” – 1-128, FM 3-24
38. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 37 “Eventually, the people marginalize and stigmatize insurgents to the point that the insurgency’s claim to legitimacy is destroyed.”
 – 1-130, FM 3-24
39. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 38 Separate insurgents from their resources
40. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 39 Money: Budget + People
41. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 40 Power: Executive backing
42. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 41 3. Use the 
 Appropriate 
 Level of Force
43. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 42 “An operation that kills five insurgents is counterproductive if collateral damage leads to the recruitment of fifty more insurgents.” – 1-141, FM 3-24
44. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 43 You can't be the villain all the time
45. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 44 “Who wields force is also important.”
 – 1-143, FM 3-24
46. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 45 Influence and motivate the uncommitted middle
47. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 46
48. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 47 Have them make the arguments for “no”
49. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 48 “[Success requires the status quo] be accepted as legitimate by most of that uncommitted middle, which also includes passive supporters of both sides”
 – 1-108, FM 3-24
50. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 49 4. Sometimes 
 Doing Nothing 
 is the 
 Best Reaction
51. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 50 “Often insurgents carry out a terrorist act or guerrilla raid with the primary purpose of enticing counterinsurgents to overreact” – 1-152, FM 3-24
52. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 51 You don’t have to fight with .
53. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 52 Respond, don’t react.
54. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 53 Why should I care?
55. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 54 Think of this as red teaming for organizational change
56. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 55 By knowing how you might be thwarted…
57. © 2020 All Rights Reserved. 56 You can be several steps ahead.
58. Thank you! Lindsay Holmwood @auxesis
59. Want to learn more? Lindsay Holmwood @auxesis • Army Field Manual 3-24: Counterinsurgency • OSS Simple Sabotage Field Manual • Team of Teams by Gen. Stanley McChrystal