DevOps at is the heart of modern software systems. In my regular newsletter, I dive into the human factors that make successful engineering organizations where teams and platforms thrive at the heart of your socio-technical systems. From leadership to team setup, maximizing performance, tools and techniques.
Friday 2nd February - The DevOps Team
It's February. So, what's going on with your project? What's happening in your organisation? Are people happy? Are improvements being made?
Over the last few weeks, I had a few thoughts about improving from the ground up. I work day-to-day as a DevOps engineer, and from there, I can shape interactions we have as a team with other teams and also what products (or platforms) we offer. I feel lucky to have this role as I get to work with many developers with different challenges in multiple languages and frameworks, and I have a significant degree of freedom on what to do next. I feel this is a win-win. I get to do what I enjoy most, and the organisation gets to have organised help for its less expired dev teams. However, some people might think that a DevOps team shouldn't exist.
In fact, many experts see a DevOps team as an antipattern.
But if your organisation is still trying to get to grips with the concept of the cloud, then a DevOps team can be invaluable. A team comprising people who can both speak as a developer and understand systems and operating systems, networks and more advanced cloud ideas can help and support development teams get to the next level - even if that means just learning to google more effectively for solutions to problems.
DevOps is about pragmatism, getting things done when you need to, and taking ownership. A DevOps team can help you achieve that by providing coaching, platforms, and a crystal clear focus on the customer- in this case, the software product development community.
Therefore I wrote a couple of articles over the last few weeks. One about how to let your best techies (your architects) loose among your dev teams. And one about how to build lasting psychological safey in your organisation.
I hope you get something out of them.
Have a great weekend,
-- Richard
The Value of Socially Driven Architecture
Published on February 1, 2024
Even if it seems like the right thing to do, just putting people to work is not always the most effective way of improving your systems. Can we start to understand the value of a more socially driven architecture? Here’s a scenario. The software architect is at work. After reviewing the current state of the… Read More »The Value of Socially Driven Architecture
Building Resilience: How to form lasting psychological safety
Published on January 15, 2024
This is the first of a two-part post about building individual resilience in software engineering. Today is Blue Monday. According to experts this is mentally the toughest day of the year for knowledge workers in the Northern Hemisphere. The low point of the year for many of us due to the long dark days, the… Read More »Building Resilience: How to form lasting psychological safety
Human DevOps
DevOps at is the heart of modern software systems. In my regular newsletter, I dive into the human factors that make successful engineering organizations where teams and platforms thrive at the heart of your socio-technical systems. From leadership to team setup, maximizing performance, tools and techniques.
“Through the years, I have learned there is no harm in charging oneself up with delusions between moments of valid inspiration... Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.” – Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life You're receiving this because you subscribed to receive updates about "Human Software" or you're on my Human DevOps mailing list. The summer season is upon us. Originally I was aiming to have some early chapters of my debut novel "Human Software" available to...
It has not by any means been a good summer in the Netherlands. It's been very wet and the last few days have also been extremely windy. At work, on the streets and on the roads, there is a tension. I try to take the time to go out for a lunchtime walk at least a couple of times a week and took this photo last week during a gap in the rain. The Middelpolder And we head towards the summer break, make sure to take some time to relax before you face the serious business of relaxation. I'm taking...
I lived in London in 1997 when the Tony Blair "New Labour" government swept into power. It was a time of great hope and audacity. It felt like "we" could do anything, but then I was 25 years old and living in London, and indeed, anything did, in fact, feel possible because I was at the dawn of my career without responsibilities or the weight of history behind my thoughts and actions. So perhaps older and wiser, we are here. The UK has been (according to some) bitten down by 14 years of Tory...