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What is DevOps Coaching?
The Art, Science, and Culture
Of Engineering Enablement
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Hello!
Michael Migliacio
マイケル ミグラシオ
Software Engineering Coach
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井の中の蛙大海を知らず
A frog in a well does not know the great sea...
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THE ENGINEER MINDSET
It’s more complex than you think...
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Engineers
Engineers generally want to do their
best work. That work consists of
solving business and engineering
problems that are extremely
complex.
DevOps fuses engineering, testing,
and operations acumen.
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Challenges
● Deadlines without business
context
● Scope creep
● Conflict within team, lack of
psychological safety
● Imposter Syndrome and the
Dunning-Kruger effect (“the
more knowledge you possess,
the more you realize you are
actually lacking”)
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What is a Coach?
1. A technology advocate.
2. A leadership whisperer.
3. A stakeholder in the team’s
success.
4. A change agent.
5. A counselor.
6. All of the above.
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Most importantly...
An agent for change!
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CHANGE AND EMPATHY
Understanding is one of the greatest tools in a coach’s toolbox.
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Change
● Is DevOps in a nutshell.
● Is not rational, but emotional.
● Is scary (inertia is preferable).
● Happens when the fear of
change is less than the fear of
remaining the same.
● Is cross-cultural.
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What Sparks Change?
● No one wants to take the first
step.
● “It’s not me that needs to change,
it’s ”
● Coaches must change how they
interact with teams to promote
change organically.
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What is Empathy?
1. Not pity.
2. Not sympathy.
3. Not understanding (at least not
on its own).
4. “I feel what you feel.”
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Empathy
● Vital to the role of a coach.
● People will respond to
suggestions and advice if they
like and trust the advisor.
● To do this, coaches have to put
themselves in their team’s shoes
and understand their pain
points.
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THE TRUST - INFLUENCE LOOP
Building trust and influence one step at a time.
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The Trust-Influence
Loop
● Made famous by Mike Cottmeyer
● https://www.leadingagile.com/podcast/trust-influence-l
oop-mike-cottmeyer/
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Influence
● Begins with access to the team.
● Influence grows through feeling
understanding the team’s pain
.points. “I see your point of view.
I hear you.”
● Ultimately results in a feeling of
kinship, camaraderie, and safety.
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Trust
● Only once safety is established in
a team can a change agent take
action.
● Reality check. ‘Are we doing what
we set out to do?’
● Competence. ‘Let’s do the task.’
● Results. ‘How did it go?’
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PROBLEM OWNERSHIP IN 5
STEPS
How to coach a team through a technical problem
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Technical Ownership
● DevOps Coaching is often
squishy.
● Sometimes technologies and
solutions are decided by an
enterprise, other times teams
can choose themselves.
● Part of coaching is empowering
teams to own their decisions.
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Step 1
● Demonstrate Empathy
● “Learning how to set up a
.drone.yml file as part of a CI/CD
pipeline is a drag. I feel your pain
because I’ve been there myself.”
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Step 2
● Hand the Problem Back
● “What do you think you’re going
to do?”
● “How are you going to handle
that error case?”
● “What have you tried so far?”
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Step 3
● Ask For Permission and Give
Suggestions
● “Would you like some choices as
to how to solve this problem?”
● Meaning is not the same as “How
can I solve this problem for you?”
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Step 4
● Let Them Make Their Choice
● Do the team the honor of
assuming they can figure it out.
● The team owns their choice
through the knowledge gathering
they’ve done and the fix they’ve
created.
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Step 5
● Wish Them Luck
● Maintain a positive attitude.
● Follow up with the team on their
solution afterwards.
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◇ Every question is a good question.
◇ Follow @AngstyGaijin on Twitter if you want to know more.
6 QUESTIONS