The Phoenix Project is a novel about IT. That was enough for me to get all of my attention. Describing today’s challenges and DevOps practices it’s a brilliant and original idea! I’m even more convinced after reading this book, I’ve also discovered that the authors have been inspired by “The Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt.
Understanding problems and focusing on processes is key to implementing an efficient solution. The problem that most technology enthusiasts, like me, sometimes have is that we focus more on tools or fast and achievable results that can sometimes just increase the overall technical debt or make systems inconsistent or even fragile.
Bill, the main character, has experience and leadership, but more importantly for me, he can understand and recognise people’s attitudes. That skill is so valuable that most of his choices are a direct consequence of implementing solutions and finding the right people for the job.
Everyone who joined the industry at least 10-15 years ago or even better before the dotcom bubble can find this story interesting and recognise or have met some of the characters described in this book during his/her career path.
Or we recognise that we were/are one of the characters described in this book at work every day.
If you work in IT, I strongly suggest you to read it, it’s a must!
These are some of my favourite quotes from the book:
- “Being able to take needless work out of the system is more important than being able to put more work into the system.” / “Improving daily work is even more important than doing daily work.”
- “Any improvements made anywhere besides the bottleneck are an illusion.”
- “Practice creates habits, and habits create mastery of any process or skill.”