Halt and Don't Catch Fire - SREcon18 Europe
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The document discusses the challenges faced by startups and newly formed tech teams, primarily focusing on technical debt and its impact on team dynamics. It outlines the origins of these issues, the stages of technical debt, and provides strategies for managing and improving team culture. Key takeaways emphasize the need for proper documentation, questioning, and building sustainable practices to mitigate burnout and toxicity within teams.
Halt and Don't Catch Fire - SREcon18 Europe
- 1. Halt and Don’t Catch Fire effie mouzeli SREcon18 Düsseldorf
- 2. Startups Small organisations Newly formed “sysadms”* teams Solo systems engineers Who Cares? * ops/systems/admin/cluster/SRE/<insert more>1
- 3. Technical Debt • Lack processes and experience • Early adoption of new tech • Re-inventing the wheel, and cargo cult • Frequent change of requirements • Overestimation and Time 2
- 4. How we got here? • Short term planning • Duct tape and bubblegum • Early adopters :) • No documentation • No processes • No boundaries • No backups Startups 3
- 5. How we got here? • Duct tape and bubblegum :) • Lack of original information • *Some* documentation • *Some* backups • Lack of original information • Waiting for a(nother) hero • Communication issues • “Don’t touch this” systems !Startups 4
- 6. Challenges of new teams • Who are you? • Who are they? • Unknown infrastructure • Finding information • Unaware of what’s coming 5
- 7. The 5 Stages of Technical Debt • Denial • Anger • Bargaining • Depression • Acceptance 6
- 8. Take a breath • Ask the right questions • Go through the backlog (if any) • Write down everything • Create a complete dashboard • Prioritise • DON’T SKIP weekly/biweekly meetings • Build relationships • Rinse and repeat 7
- 9. Slowing it down • Take care of repetitive tasks • Choose software wisely • Know your current limits • Keep track of what’s going on around you, and talk • Break bad habits • Be consistent and apply rules 8
- 10. How debt can kill a team • Burnout • Blame game • Tension and toxicity • Martyrs and messiahs 9
- 11. Creating a culture • Being a guard • Junior engineers • Adopt good practices • Make mistakes, it’s human • There’s no shame in asking • Following the Golden Rule* can go a long way * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule10
- 12. Takeaways • Technical debt in small environments sucks • Stop, ask the right questions, and breathe • It will never be eliminated • Identify the debt that kills you and the one that burdens you • Our systems will never be perfect, just manageable 11
- 13. TL;DR How we got here? Go through the stages Ask the right questions Document the problems Try not to kill your team Create a sustainable culture 12
- 15. images • https://www.deviantart.com/sudeepdash/art/IT-Crowd-200295794 • http://fuckyeah-pixels.tumblr.com/post/31749217421 • https://mymodernmet.com/pop-culture-pixel-people/ • http://fuckyeah-pixels.tumblr.com/post/52333978134 • http://fuckyeah-pixels.tumblr.com/post/47682887619 • http://pixelartmaker.com/art/adb1880541bb6ea 10