changing the laws of engineering with github pull requests

©2008-15 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.

Presenter Name, Title and or Date@ralphbod Slides https://bit.ly/pull-request-your-culture

Changing the Laws of Engineeringwith GitHub Pull Requests


This document and the information herein (including any information that may be incorporated by reference) is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an offer, commitment, promise or obligation on behalf of New Relic, Inc. (“New Relic”) to sell securities or deliver any product, material, code, functionality, or other feature. Any information provided hereby is proprietary to New Relic and may not be replicated or disclosed without New Relic’s express written permission.

Such information may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Any statement that is not a historical fact or refers to expectations, projections, future plans, objectives, estimates, goals, or other characterizations of future events is a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements can often be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects” or words of similar import.

Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and are subject to change at any time without notice. Existing and prospective investors, customers and other third parties transacting business with New Relic are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements are based on New Relic’s current assumptions, expectations, and beliefs and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and changes in circumstances that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. Further information on factors that could affect such forward-looking statements is included in the filings we make with the SEC from time to time. Copies of these documents may be obtained by visiting New Relic’s Investor Relations website at ir.newrelic.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

New Relic assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. New Relic makes no warranties, expressed or implied, in this document or otherwise, with respect to the information provided.

Confidential ©2008-15 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved. 3

Culture Why you do things.

Metaprocess

ProcessEntropy

How you change.

What you do, today.

Holding you down.

©2008-15 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.©2008-15 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved. 8

The results

85 309 43 Comments Commenters

(40% of Engineering)PRs

merged(+48 closed)

Engineerscommitting

(+41 others)

1,920

numbers to be

updated


What we wantProcesses embody culture Processes are repeatable (efficient, fair) Transparent Inclusive Discoverable Single source of truth, written down Update / delete easily Bias for action Autonomy Editorial control

Confidential ©2008-15 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Great Title Debate

10

1 / 5


Engineer


Margaret Hamilton, engineer who coined

“software engineering”


Software EngineerSenior Software Engineer

Lead Software EngineerPrincipal Software Engineer

Distinguished Software EngineerEngineering ManagerSenior Engineering ManagerDirector of Engineering


Process

=What you do because it works at the time


What we wantProcesses embody culture Processes are repeatable (efficient, fair)

©2008-15 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.Confidential ©2008-15 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved.

16

Ye Olde Metaprocess


What we wantProcesses embody culture Processes are repeatable (efficient, fair) Transparent Inclusive


150


What we wantProcesses embody culture Processes are repeatable (efficient, fair) Transparent Inclusive Discoverable Single source of truth, written down


HOW ABOUT A WIKI?


The append-only Wiki

2 / 5


Copypasta feeds inertia


What we wantProcesses embody culture Processes are repeatable (efficient, fair) Transparent Inclusive Discoverable Single source of truth, written down Update / delete easily


The Vestigial Manual Tests

3 / 5


Culture > Process


Culture is the reason for Process


Entropy

28


You need a way to close the Culture / Process gap


What we wantProcesses embody culture Processes are repeatable (efficient, fair) Transparent Inclusive Discoverable Single source of truth, written down Update / delete easily Bias for action Autonomy


4 / 5

This document and the information herein (including any information that may be incorporated by reference) is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an offer, commitment, promise or obligation on behalf of New Relic, Inc. (“New Relic”) to sell securities or deliver any product, material, code, functionality, or other feature. Any information provided hereby is proprietary to New Relic and may not be replicated or disclosed without New Relic’s express written permission.

Such information may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Any statement that is not a historical fact or refers to expectations, projections, future plans, objectives, estimates, goals, or other characterizations of future events is a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements can often be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects” or words of similar import.

Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and are subject to change at any time without notice. Existing and prospective investors, customers and other third parties transacting business with New Relic are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements are based on New Relic’s current assumptions, expectations, and beliefs and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and changes in circumstances that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. Further information on factors that could affect such forward-looking statements is included in the filings we make with the SEC from time to time. Copies of these documents may be obtained by visiting New Relic’s Investor Relations website at ir.newrelic.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

New Relic assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. New Relic makes no warranties, expressed or implied, in this document or otherwise, with respect to the information provided.

Our business is not a democracy


The Boss


Open Source is not a democracy


What we wantProcesses embody culture Processes are repeatable (efficient, fair) Transparent Inclusive Discoverable Single source of truth, written down Update / delete easily Bias for action Autonomy Editorial control

Confidential ©2008-15 New Relic, Inc. All rights reserved. 35

a ideathe

5 / 5


Culture as Code


GitHub Pages Jekyll

Markdown + HTML


Processes embody culture Processes are repeatable (efficient, fair) Transparent Inclusive Discoverable Single source of truth, written down Update / delete easily Bias for action Autonomy Editorial control

40

What we gotProcesses embody culture Processes are repeatable (efficient, fair) Transparent Inclusive Discoverable Single source of truth, written down Update / delete easily Bias for action Autonomy Editorial control


Things we learned


Do write together


Actively discourage email discussion


“Lowers the contribution barrier…”


~50% of discussionafter merge

Moderate!Is it useful?


git clone culture

6 / 5


Why did we think this was a good idea?

48


Why > What

49


Junior Software Engineer Software Engineer

Senior Software EngineerLead Software Engineer

Principal Software EngineerDistinguished Software Engineer

Engineering ManagerSenior Engineering ManagerDirector of Engineering


Software EngineerSenior Software EngineerLead Software Engineer

Principal Software EngineerDistinguished Software Engineer

Engineering ManagerSenior Engineering ManagerDirector of Engineering


Pull Request knows why

52


Ask why.


This talk was the work of at least 18 people.

@belindarunkle@danarelic@feministy@foliosus@kfrugia@kwugirlMatt Otis@mewzherder@mflaming@nerdygirl@nicbenders@qkate@relistan@spkane@SXavier_NwRelic@WardCunningham@xensesthegreat

55

Acknowledgements

Thanks for your help in shaping this talk and in making New Relic awesome!


Valve Handbook for New Employees http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdfGitHub: Quick Pull Requests https://github.com/blog/1945-quick-pull-requests

56

References


Valve Working without a Boss http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2012/04/screen-shot-2012-04-23-at-11.24.33-am.jpg

Valve cover http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ANyPdiwb--/17k9nffv4tn36jpg.jpg

Constitutional Convention http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_to_propose_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Margaret Hamilton with her code http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Margaret_Hamilton.gif Ward Cunningham http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Ward_Cunningham_1.jpg Scumbag appendix http://imgur.com/gallery/254ANHP

Pair keypunching http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Keypunching_at_Texas_A%26M2.jpg

57

Image References

changing the laws of engineering with github pull requests

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