As I mentioned a couple of days ago, John Willis and I created nine hours of audio for Beyond The Phoenix Project, which is being released later this week. During the hundreds of hours of research and preparation, we explored many of the key pioneering researchers whose bodies of knowledge we draw upon so heavily in the DevOps movement. In the next email, I’ll share some of the highlights from the modules on Lean, safety culture and resilience engineering. But today, our focus is the story of … [Read more...]
The Andon Cord
The origin of the word “Andon” in Japanese comes from the use of traditional lighting equipment using a fire burning lamp made out of paper and bamboo. This “Andon” idea was later translated for use in manufacturing in Japan. The “Andon” became used as a signal to highlight an anomaly (i.e., a flashing light). This signal would be used to amplify potential defects in quality. When a defect was suspected, a sign board would light up signaling the specific workstation having a problem. The … [Read more...]
Neo Taylorism or DevOps Anti Patterns
In 1911 Frederick Winslow Taylor wrote “The Principles of Scientific Management.” Taylor’s ideas formed the basis for the 20th century command and control management archetype. His principles and scientific methods for worker efficiency and standardization set the foundation for American steel and automobile manufacturers tremendous prosperity in the early 20th century. Henry Ford adopted many of Taylor’s ideas, picking up where Taylor left off, so much so that many consider his assembly line … [Read more...]
Deming to DevOps (Part 1)
Edward Deming is often referred to as the father of quality and his ideas laid much of the groundwork are for what is today called Six Sigma. If the story ended there it would be terrifically interesting, but actually not as interesting as the complete story. I would argue that Dr Deming’s greatest contribution to the 20th century was his insight into the hearts and minds of humans. By creating a unique fusion of science and human engineering he left a profound impact on modern “management”. … [Read more...]
