What we're learning about burnout and how DevOps can help
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This document summarizes a presentation about burnout and how a DevOps culture can help address it. It begins with introductions and disclaimers before defining DevOps and burnout. It then discusses the six main causes of burnout being work overload, lack of control, insufficient reward, communication breakdowns, unfairness, and conflicting values. It explains how practices in a DevOps culture like continuous delivery, shared responsibility, and communication can help mitigate these issues. Finally, it provides suggestions for individuals like increasing self-awareness, talking to others, getting training, and further reading.
What we're learning about burnout and how DevOps can help
- 1. WHAT WE’RE LEARNING ABOUT BURNOUT and how a DevOps culture can help
- 2. AGENDA Intro and disclaimers Why this talk? What is DevOps What is burnout What causes burnout Some things you can do 2
- 3. THIS IS ME Former US Marine 25 years in the software development industry Worked as a developer, system administrator, support technician, development manager, corporate director, sales engineer and a few others Currently a technology evangelist for ThoughtWorks, specializing in DevOps and Continuous Delivery 3
- 4. YOU SHOULDN’T BELIEVE ANYTHING I’M ABOUT TO SAY 4
- 5. Did you notice anything missing from my bio? 5
- 6. Did you notice anything missing from my bio? I am not a mental health professional! 6
- 7. DEVOPS COULD ACTUALLY MAKE IT WORSE Some organizations see DevOps and Continuous Delivery as nothing more than a way to move faster. 7
- 8. CONFIRMATION BIAS Confirmation bias, also called confirmatory bias or myside bias, is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities. 8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
- 10. IF YOU SHOULDN’T BELIEVE ME, WHY AM I GIVING THIS TALK? 10
- 11. Why not me? 11
- 12. Why not you? 12
- 13. WHY SHOULD WE ADDRESS BURNOUT? 13
- 14. Because we’re human, and we can 14
- 15. WHY WE SHOULD ADDRESS BURNOUT “Psychological safety was far and away the most important of the five dynamics we found -- it’s the underpinning of the other four.” 15https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/
- 16. WHY WE SHOULD ADDRESS BURNOUT “Burnout is not just about the presence of negative emotions. It is also about the absence of positive ones … if the work makes you feel good, you'll want to keep doing it and doing it well.” 16 Christina Maslach;Michael P. Leiter. The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It
- 17. WHAT IS DEVOPS? (Because the world needs yet another definition) 17
- 18. MY DEFINITION OF DEVOPS 18 A culture where people, regardless of title or background, work together to imagine, develop, deploy and operate a system. But some of what you’re about to hear assumes you’re practicing Continuous Delivery as part of a DevOps Culture
- 20. 20
- 21. THE DIMENSIONS OF BURNOUT Exhaustion Cynicism Professional Efficacy 21
- 22. THE DIMENSIONS OF BURNOUT Exhaustion • Measures feelings of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one's work. Exhaustion is a depletion of emotional energy, distinct from physical exhaustion or mental fatigue. Cynicism Professional Efficacy 22
- 23. THE DIMENSIONS OF BURNOUT Exhaustion Cynicism • Measures an unfeeling and impersonal response toward the recipients of one's service. Professional Efficacy 23
- 24. THE DIMENSIONS OF BURNOUT Exhaustion Cynicism Professional Efficacy • Measures feelings of competence and successful achievement in one's work. 24
- 26. “Burnout is always more likely when there is a major mismatch between the nature of the job and the nature of the person who does the job.” 26 Christina Maslach;Michael P. Leiter. The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It (Kindle Locations 132-133). Kindle Edition.
- 27. mismatch 27 Christina Maslach;Michael P. Leiter. The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It (Kindle Locations 132-133). Kindle Edition.
- 28. SIX COMMON AREAS OF MISMATCH Work Overload Lack of Control Insufficient Reward Breakdown of Communication Absence of Fairness Conflicting Values 28
- 29. WHERE DEVOPS CAN HELP Work Overload Lack of Control Insufficient Reward Breakdown of Communication Absence of Fairness Conflicting Values 29
- 30. MISMATCH 1 - WORK OVERLOAD Work is more visible More load sharing Less deploy marathons (CD) Some orgs see it as cost savings There is no such thing as a full stack engineer 30
- 31. MISMATCH 1 - WORK OVERLOAD 31 My last 3 years
- 32. MISMATCH 2 - LACK OF CONTROL Teams are ultimately responsible for decisions Use the right technology and tools for the team This doesn’t mean a “DevOps Team” controlling what others do 32
- 33. MISMATCH 3 - INSUFFICIENT REWARD Becoming a “DevOps Engineer” and getting paid more won’t hurt, but it won’t help either Money isn’t actually a very good motivator • There is less than a 2% overlap between pay and job satisfaction • You’re more likely to like your job if you focus on the work itself, and less likely to enjoy it if you’re focused on money. • For every standard deviation increase in reward, intrinsic motivation for interesting tasks decreases by about 25%. 33 https://hbr.org/2013/04/does-money-really-affect-motiv
- 34. MISMATCH 3 - INSUFFICIENT REWARD 34
- 35. MISMATCH 4 - BREAKDOWN OF COMMUNICATION 35 CODE BUILD TEST WALL RELEASE WALL OPERATE WALL
- 36. MISMATCH 4 - BREAKDOWN OF COMMUNICATION Everyone involved with the product is on the same team Pairs with different skill sets are common Swarming can be done when required Blameless retrospectives are held There is no such thing as a “DevOps Team” • creating a new silo is not a solution for silos 36
- 37. MISMATCH 5 - ABSENCE OF FAIRNESS 37
- 38. MISMATCH 5 - ABSENCE OF FAIRNESS You build it, you run it Everyone is responsible for quality Everyone goes to the release party 38
- 39. MISMATCH 6 - CONFLICTING VALUES This means values in the broadest possible context There is one definition of success for the team Compensation is tied to entire team’s success 39 ThoughtWorks Pillar Three Advocate passionately for social and economic justice
- 40. Reminder: It’s all about you 40
- 41. SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO 41
- 42. Pay attention to how you feel 42
- 43. INCREASE YOUR SELF AWARENESS Maslach Burnout Inventory • http://www.mindgarden.com/117-maslach-burnout-inventory 43
- 44. INCREASE YOUR SELF AWARENESS 44 That was great! The customers love it! Pure genius! Love having you on the team! You rock! Very helpful! I don’t like you
- 45. INCREASE YOUR SELF AWARENESS 45 That was great! The customers love it! Pure genius! Love having you on the team! You rock! Very helpful! I don’t like you
- 46. INCREASE YOUR SELF AWARENESS 46 That was great! The customers love it! Pure genius! Love having you on the team! You rock! Very helpful!
- 47. TALK TO SOMEONE Professional help is the best • Trained to identify cause and effect • Can recommend treatment • You’d call them if you broke your arm Friends and family People who care that you haven’t even met 47
- 48. LISTEN TO SOMEONE Empathy is great, but you aren’t a professional! Don’t try to guess at cause and effect Don’t recommend treatment 48
- 49. GET TRAINING Mental Health First Aid - http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ 49