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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... 1

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THE ENGINEER MINDSET It’s more complex than you think... 2

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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. 3

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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. 4

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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 5

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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