The Human DevOps - Sunday 10th November - Being Human


The period after the summer holiday is always a busy one. What have you been up to?

A lot of what has been on my mind is my mind. And not only my mind but the minds of those around me. There is an increasing neurodivergent component in my family, so for me, it's been really hard to think or read or write about anything else!

Against this backdrop, I've been back to working as a DevOps engineer, writing Terraform, Python and Ansible and having design discussions. While I still enjoy it, I sometimes wish for more exciting work. The people I work with are great, making it bearable for the moment but there is still uncertainty in our futures. There is still a lot of uncertainty in the software world. Layoffs continue. I count myself lucky. It's better to have a job than not one, especially at this time of year.

I've also been continuing to work on my novel, Human Software. It's also a blog now where I write about the writing process and track its development.

With this focus on writing, on the self, family and the team, I find the actual creation of software itself increasingly unimportant. Consequently, I'm reconsidering this newsletter, my blog and what it means to my readers.

My focus is exploring the human condition in the current time - in 2024. It's never been about software processes or engineering excellence but I have been writing about "what I know" so I've been expressing myself through that medium.

I look back over the last almost three years of this newsletter, and I notice that it's changed a lot as I have changed and learned. I was initially writing about automation and how that helps us. Then, I thought I was writing about software design, DevOps and architecture. Then, I thought it was about the management process and how our organisations are built. But, all along, I was talking about people, about humans. About how we interact. About what we think. About how we grow. About how we love.

These are all themes I am exploring in Human Software. So if you want to know what's going on with that - you can also one-click sign up for updates! An update about Human Software is scheduled for this afternoon. Thanks!

When I return with the next instalment of this newsletter, I might have dropped the DevOps part from the name ;)

Have a great Sunday!


Self-Compassion on the Anxiety Boredom Threshold

Published on November 2, 2024

Alongside my day job I’ve been making a concerted albeit slightly haphazard effort to build a consulting career over the last few years. This means having a blog (hi!), having an increasingly occasional newsletter, starting a podcast, posting on LinkedIn, making connections, reading books, reviewing them and being an enabled and activated member of a… Read More »Self-Compassion on the Anxiety Boredom Threshold

Read more...

Humans Screw Up. Why Can’t Other Humans Accept This?

Published on October 22, 2024

Do you know how many mistakes the average software engineer makes over their career? It’s a lot. In fact, it’s directly proportional to the number of things a software engineer does. The more you do, the more you screw up. That’s how it works. Pretending that somehow we are invincible as software engineers is just… Read More »Humans Screw Up. Why Can’t Other Humans Accept This?

Read more...

Why I still love Legacy

Published on October 9, 2024

Almost three years ago I started a podcast without really knowing where it was going. The only thing I knew was that it was good to talk about things – to talk out loud about ideas.  Because when we give voice to our ideas, they actually become real. They are not just banging around inside… Read More »Why I still love Legacy

Read more...

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.

Read more from Human DevOps
The Human DevOps -  Sunday 6th October - What is Humane Engineering?

September took me to London to attend a couple of conferences. The first was the Team Topologies-aligned Fast Flow conference , preceded by a workshop with the Team Topologies core team. I also popped into the Design Museum when I was in the area, an inspirational space if you're ever in London. The Design Museum in Kensington, London. As part of the work I do, I sometimes bump into like-minded folks. While I didn't catch up with them at Fast Flow Conf, a few days ago I enjoyed chatting with...

The Human DevOps - Sunday 8th September 2024  - How To Enjoy Software Engineering

How was your summer? Does it feel like it's still happening, or are you already back in the thick of things? It's been a bit of both for me over the last few weeks. I've been in and out of holiday mode. The weather is still hot, but the office is in action. Next week, I'm off to London, where I'll be attending the second edition of the Fast Flow Conference with the Team Topologies organisation and heading to SaaS CTO Conference to meet with tech leaders and find out what's got them worried...

“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...