The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations

by Gene Kim

ENABLE EVERYONE TO TEACH AND LEARN A dynamic culture of learning creates conditions so that everyone can not only learn, but also teach, whether through traditional didactic methods (e.g., people taking classes, attending training) or more experiential or open methods (e.g., conferences, workshops, mentoring). One way that we can foster this teaching and learning is to dedicate organizational time to it. Steve Farley, VP of Information Technology at Nationwide Insurance, said, “We have five thousand technology professionals, who we call ‘associates.’ Since 2011, we have been committed to create a culture of learning—part of that is something we call Teaching Thursday, where each week we create time for our associates to learn. For two hours, each associate is expected to teach or learn. The topics are whatever our associates want to learn about—some of them are on technology, on new software development or process improvement techniques, or even on how to better manage their career. The most valuable thing any associate can do is mentor or learn from other associates.” As has been made evident throughout this book, certain skills are becoming increasingly needed by all engineers, not just by developers. For instance, it is becoming more important for all Operations and Test engineers to be familiar with Development techniques, rituals, and skills, such as version control, automated testing, deployment pipelines, configuration management, and creating automation. Familiarit...