Notes From 'The Phoenix Project'

‘The Phoenix Project’
by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford

The Four Kinds of IT Work

• Business Projects - New products for the company to sell, new ways to reach customers.
• Internal Projects - All the IT-related things it takes to keep a modern business running: installing new VOIP phones, keeping the email server running, etc.
• Operational Change - Changes, deployments, dependency updates, etc.
• Unplanned Work - Something broke, and you have to fix it.

Erik’s Three Ways

• Think about the system as a whole. Limit work in progress and keep work flowing from left to right, as fast as possible (but not faster). Remove constraints.
• Increase feedback loops from right to left. “Now you must prove that you can master the Second Way, creating constant feedback loops from IT Operations back into Development, designing quality into the product at the earliest stages. To do that, you can’t have nine-month-long releases. You need much faster feedback.”
• Develop and foster a culture where learning, experimentation, and even failure are encouraged. “The Third Way is all about ensuring that we’re continually putting tension into the system, so that we’re continually reinforcing habits and improving something.”