distributed: of systems and teams (ricon 2015 version)
TRANSCRIPT
Pi @bridgetkromhout
distributed: of systems and teams
Bridget Kromhout
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Bridget Kromhout lives: Minneapolis works: Pivotal podcasts: Arrested DevOps organizes: devopsdays
was: ops @ DramaFever, 8thBridge
Pi @bridgetkromhout
distributed systems free-association game
Images from Kyle Kingsbury’s Jepsen project
Pi @bridgetkromhout
CA
CP AP
AvailabilityConsistency
Partition Tolerance
“a partition is a time bound on communication.”
Eric Brewer
Pi @bridgetkromhout
tl;dr: distributed systems
are complex
let’s talk distributed teams
Pi @bridgetkromhout
I live nearly 2,000 miles from the Pivotal San Francisco office. (It’s probably definitely fine.)
Pi @bridgetkromhout
…especially as the whole team is distributed.
Pi @bridgetkromhout
distributed != remote
Pi @bridgetkromhout
The network is the computer.
the office.
Pi @bridgetkromhout
people > tools
choose: tools people will use
xkcd.com/1254/
Pi @bridgetkromhout
synchronous
Pi @bridgetkromhout
asynchronous
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Group chat: we use Slack
But anything you like works
If you all use it.
a slack haiku
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Pairing: state persists in RAM… write it to disk!
Pi @bridgetkromhout
“Durable communication exhibits the same characteristics as accidental, convenient communication in a co-located space. The powerful difference is how inclusive, transparent, and reliable it is.”
Casey West
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Lower-bandwidth communication: more handshaking
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Provide context.
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Let the team know when you’ll be unavailable.
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Remote-friendly is good for work/life balance.
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Tell the team what you’re doing.
(Nobody can see you’re working on slides.)
(Again.)
(Still.)
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Misunderstandings happen.
Over-communicate. It’s better than being hurt or angry for no reason.
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Be explicit about
actions & decisions.
Ask for help.
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Screencapping PDFs is the new emailing PDFs.
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Common Ground and Coordination in Joint Activity Klein, Feltovich, Bradshaw, Woods (2004)
Pi @bridgetkromhout
non-violent communication & emotional literacy
Pi @bridgetkromhout
examine assumptions
be explicit about guarantees
architect for failure
Pi @bridgetkromhout
distribute decision-making
(over)-communicate
resolve conflicts as they arise
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Pi @bridgetkromhout
“There is no talent shortage.”
Andrew Clay Shafer
Pi @bridgetkromhout
what if distributed teams are a competitive advantage?
Images from Martin Fowler, “Remote versus Co-located Work”
Pi @bridgetkromhout
“Any organization that designs a system (defined broadly) will produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organization's communication structure.”
Mel Conway
Pi @bridgetkromhout
References1. Kyle Kingsbury, Jepsen project: aphyr.com/tags/Jepsen
2. Eric Brewer, “CAP Twelve Years Later: How the "Rules" Have Changed”: www.infoq.com/articles/cap-twelve-years-later-how-the-rules-have-changed
3. Casey West, “Durable Communication”: caseywest.com/durable-communication/
4. John Allspaw, “Blameless Portmortems and a Just Culture”: codeascraft.com/2012/05/22/blameless-postmortems/
5. Klein, Feltovich, Bradshaw, Woods: “Common Ground and Coordination in Joint Activity”: jeffreymbradshaw.us/publications/Common_Ground_Single.pdf
6. Marshall B. Rosenberg,”Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life”: cnvc.org/nonviolent-communication-language-life-3rd-edition
7. Andrew Clay Shafer, “There is no talent shortage”: youtube.com/watch?v=P_sWGl7MzhU
8. Martin Fowler, “Remote versus Co-located Work”: martinfowler.com/articles/remote-or-co-located.html
9. Mel Conway, “Conway’s Law”: melconway.com/Home/Conways_Law.html
Pi @bridgetkromhout
Thank you.
Slides at bridgetkromhout.com/speaking/2015/ricon/