Daily Learnings: Mon, Mar 13, 2023

You give before you get. — Napoleon Hill

The First Way

More learnings from The Phoenix Project surrounding the “First Way” of DevOps:

Adhering to the first way emphasizes importance of the following:
- Create fast and reliable flow of work
- Reduce batch sizes
- Minimize feedback loops
Based on the principles of Lean Manufacturing
- Aims to eliminate waste and improve efficiency in production manufacturing
- Applying these principles to DevOps:
  - ID and get rid of bottlenecks
  - Reduce handoffs between teams, especially manual ones that could involve errors
  - Ensure work flows smoothly and quickly through the value stream
Key practices for the first way
- Visualize the work: Create visual representation of entire value stream
  - Search for bottlenecks and ID places for improvement
- Limit WIP: Limit the WIP in order to decrease amount of time it takes to complete each task / improve overall efficiency
  - I.e., get rid of distractions and “multi-tasking”
- Manage Flow: Ensure that new features start at the beginning and flow through the stream from development to ops to the customer smoothly
- Make Process Policies Explicit: Make the policies and processes explicit and visible
  - Also helps to identify and remove hidden inefficiencies or bottlenecks
- Implement Feedback Loops: Helps to make continuous improvements to the value stream
First Way helps to establish a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration
- Focuses on optimizing flow of work & delivering value to customer as quickly and efficiently as possible