They tried to make me do a reorg, but I said no, no, no

Posted on by Matthew Skelton (@matthewskelton)

Inspired by a comment from Anders Bruvik, I asked ChatGPT 4o to write some song lyrics about the dreaded “re-org” and include some Team Topologies ideas:

Please write song lyrics that are similar to the lyrics of the song “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse but are instead focused on avoiding a “reorg”. Include some concepts from Team Topologies. The first line of the song should be “They tried to make me do a reorg, but I said no, no, no”

Here is the result – it’s not bad!

UPDATE: Stephen Kurzeja did a GenAI version of the song via Suno using the lyrics from ChatGPT 🤩 – https://suno.com/song/c4a1e33b-577d-49b1-a438-d3ed0d8d341c

Verse 1:

They tried to make me do a reorg, but I said no, no, no
I like my team just the way it is, can’t you see it’s a flow, flow, flow
I know the silos are hard, but trust the Stream-Aligned
We’ll deliver value fast, on time, on time

Chorus:

I don’t need no new boundaries, or Conway’s Law fix
With clear communication, our team really clicks
You say DevOps, I say fine, just give me a task to grow
But reorgs break our rhythm, and the answer is no, no, no

Verse 2:

They’re talking about Complicated Subsystems, and let’s dismantle the mess
But we need our Enabling Teams, to help and not to impress
Coordination’s key, with our Platform and Stream
Reorgs just shuffle pieces, and disrupt the dream

Chorus:

I don’t need no new boundaries, or Conway’s Law fix
With clear communication, our team really clicks
You say DevOps, I say fine, just give me a task to grow
But reorgs break our rhythm, and the answer is no, no, no

Bridge:

We got Team Topologies, and we know our roles
Collaborating fluidly, achieving all our goals
You think the org chart changes everything, but I say it’s a show
We got our ways of working, and that’s why the answer’s no

Chorus:

I don’t need no new boundaries, or Conway’s Law fix
With clear communication, our team really clicks
You say DevOps, I say fine, just give me a task to grow
But reorgs break our rhythm, and the answer is no, no, no

Outro:

Don’t need no reorg, don’t need no shake-up plan
With our team topology, we’re doing all we can
Alignment and flow, that’s how we like to go
Reorgs just bring chaos, so the answer is no, no, no

And for completeness, here is the original video of “Rehab” by the superb Amy Winehouse 💖

How to write a talk about Team Topologies

Posted on by Matthew Skelton (@matthewskelton)

I was recently asked by someone at a customer organization for some tips on how to write a talk about Team Topologies [TT] (she was Head of Information Security, but this article applies to almost any role). This post summarizes my suggestions for how to write a talk about TT for your own organization and/or for public events like meetups or conferences.

Continue reading How to write a talk about Team Topologies

Expert consultation sessions now available online

Posted on by Matthew Skelton (@matthewskelton)

I am now available again for 1-hour online consultation sessions. Use ONLINE20 for a 20% discount.

We can shape a consulting session to explore any topic relevant to your organization’s current context and future goals. Typical topics include:

Consulting sessions are particularly beneficial when used as part of a larger learning program.

➡️ https://confluxhq.com/p662a

Why are deployment pipelines important?

Posted on by Matthew Skelton (@matthewskelton)

I’ve been using deployment pipelines since 2011 starting with GoCD and then other tools. A few months ago, I joined DevOps experts Helen Beal of Ranger4, and Sam Fell & Anders Wallgren of Electric Cloud to discuss deployment pipelines for modern software delivery as part of the Continuous Discussions (#c9d9) series (episode 88).

(YouTube video segments below)

Key takeaways:

  1. The concept of the deployment pipeline was defined and popularised by the 2010 book Continuous Delivery by Jez Humble and Dave Farley.
  2. Deployment pipelines are a really key concept for modern software delivery – all changes flow through the deployment pipeline.
  3. The fast feedback from deployment pipelines can and should completely change the way we approach software. We can expect rapid feedback on changes which encourages us to make smaller, more frequent code check-ins.
  4. Value Stream Mapping can be a powerful way to uncover large wait times in the delivery flow.
  5. A “walking skeleton” deployment pipelines – essentially modelling the current approval/change flow but with empty stages in a tool – helps us to sense-check the current state: “do we really need an approval gate at this point?”

Continue reading Why are deployment pipelines important?

Tips for facilitating round-table discussions

Posted on by Matthew Skelton (@matthewskelton)

Round-table discussions can be a really useful way to discover and share direct experience with peers and colleagues. A good round-table discussion is quietly facilitated by someone who knows the subject matter enough to include interesting questions and can ensure that everyone has a voice.

Here is what I have learnt from facilitating round-table discussions and watching others, too.

  1. understand the participants
  2. understand and prepare the topic under discussion
  3. remember: this is not your platform
  4. encourage quieter people
  5. nudge the discussion to ensure all points are covered

The rest of this post goes into more detail on these points.

table with cakes

Continue reading Tips for facilitating round-table discussions