The Unicorn Project

Synopsis

The Phoenix Project wowed over a half-million readers. Now comes The Unicorn Project! "The Unicorn Project is amazing, and I loved it 100 times more than The Phoenix Project..."--FERNANDO CORNAGO, Senior Director Platform Engineering, Adidas "Gene Kim does a masterful job of showing how ... the efforts of many create lasting business advantages for all."--DR. STEVEN SPEAR, author of The High-Velocity Edge, Sr. Lecturer at MIT, and principal of HVE LLC. "The Unicorn Project is so clever, so good, so crazy enlightening!"--CORNELIA DAVIS, Vice President Of Technology at Pivotal Software, Inc., Author of Cloud Native Patterns

This highly anticipated follow-up to the bestselling title The Phoenix Project takes another look at Parts Unlimited, this time from the perspective of software development. In The Unicorn Project, we follow Maxine, a senior lead developer and architect, as she is exiled to the Phoenix Project, to the horror of her friends and colleagues, as punishment for contributing to a payroll outage. She tries to survive in what feels like a heartless and uncaring bureaucracy and to work within a system where no one can get anything done without endless committees, paperwork, and approvals.

One day, she is approached by a ragtag bunch of misfits who say they want to overthrow the existing order, to liberate developers, to bring joy back to technology work, and to enable the business to win in a time of digital disruption. To her surprise, she finds herself drawn ever further into this movement, eventually becoming one of the leaders of the Rebellion, which puts her in the crosshairs of some familiar and very dangerous enemies. The Age of Software is here, and another mass extinction event looms--this is a story about rebel developers and business leaders working together, racing against time to innovate, survive, and thrive in a time of unprecedented uncertainty...and opportunity.

"The Unicorn Project provides insanely useful insights on how to improve your technology business."--DOMINICA DEGRANDIS, author of Making Work Visible and Director of Digital Transformation at Tasktop ------ "My goal in writing The Unicorn Project was to explore and reveal the necessary but invisible structures required to make developers (and all engineers) productive, and reveal the devastating effects of technical debt and complexity. I hope this book can create common ground for technology and business leaders to leave the past behind, and co-create a better future together."--Gene Kim, November 2019

Summary

Chapter 1: The Scrumbanizer's Dilemma

* Summary: Introduces Maxine as a software engineer struggling to keep a complex system running while her team faces constant interruptions and unrealistic deadlines.
* Example: Maxine's team is tasked with fixing a high-priority bug that affects a critical system. However, they are constantly interrupted by urgent requests for new features and ad-hoc tasks.

Chapter 2: The Unreliable System

* Summary: Maxine realizes that the system she manages is unreliable and prone to breaking down, causing frequent outages and frustration for users.
* Example: A database server crashes unexpectedly, causing a major outage and disrupting several critical services.

Chapter 3: The Phoenix Project

* Summary: Maxine learns about the Phoenix Project, an initiative led by a charismatic leader named Gene Kim. The project aims to use DevOps principles to improve the reliability and stability of IT systems.
* Example: Gene shares a story about a manufacturing company that used DevOps to dramatically reduce lead time and improve product quality.

Chapter 4: The Safety Net

* Summary: Maxine and her team implement the "safety net" concept, which involves creating automated tests and other safety measures to prevent system failures.
* Example: The team sets up unit tests and integration tests to ensure that new code does not break existing functionality.

Chapter 5: The Continuous Delivery Pipeline

* Summary: Maxine introduces a continuous delivery pipeline that enables her team to release new features and updates more frequently and reliably.
* Example: The team sets up an automated build, test, and deployment pipeline that allows them to release new versions of the system several times per day.

Chapter 6: The Metrics of Success

* Summary: Maxine emphasizes the importance of measuring success using meaningful metrics, such as lead time, reliability, and customer satisfaction.
* Example: The team tracks the time it takes to fix bugs and the number of outages per week to monitor their progress.

Chapter 7: The Unicorn

* Summary: Maxine's team transforms into a "unicorn," a high-performing and reliable team that consistently exceeds expectations.
* Example: The team is able to release new features quickly and reliably, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and reduced downtime.

Chapter 8: The Fire and Ice Journey

* Summary: Maxine and her mentor, Chloe, discuss the challenges and rewards of leading a high-performing team.
* Example: Chloe shares her experience leading a team through a major transformation, highlighting the importance of trust, collaboration, and a shared vision.

Chapter 9: The Three Ways

* Summary: Maxine introduces the "Three Ways" of DevOps, which emphasize flow, feedback, and continuous learning.
* Example: The team applies the principles of flow by minimizing waste and bottlenecks in their development process.

Chapter 10: The Future of the Unicorn

* Summary: Maxine and Gene discuss the future of DevOps and the continual need for improvement.
* Example: Gene emphasizes the importance of embracing diversity, experimentation, and a culture of learning within IT organizations.