Paul Wilkinson, co-Founder of GamingWorks and DevOps Agile Skills Association (DASA) Forerunner member shares details about GamingWorks' The Phoenix Project Business Simulation, which is a DevOps training program based on the best-selling novel by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford. Both the book and the Simulation focus on IT, DevOps and helping business win. Paul discusses how business simulations drive active learning. He also shares how the simulation maps with the DASA Competence Model. Watch the webinar recording: http://bit.ly/2IOuZcZ

1. Paul Wilkinson
co-­Founder, Director
GamingWorks
DASA DevOps in Action
The Phoenix Project Business
Simulation

2. Today’s Talking Points
1. What exactly is The Phoenix Project Simulation? And
why align with DASA?
2. What does Theory to Practice look like? How does that
drive the change needed in organizations?
3. What are some of key takeaways people are getting and
how does that tie back in with the DASA Competence
Model?
4. Q&A
2

3. Poll # 1: Experienced Business Simulations?
A. Yes, I have participated in a
Business Simulation
B. No, I have heard about them, but
have not participated in them.
C. I have no experience with Business
Simulations.
3

4. What Exactly is The Phoenix
Project Simulation? And why
Align with DASA?

5. “Cultural resistance
will create
significant failure
rates when starting
with DevOps”
“Enterprises are not
ready for DevOps
but will not survive
without it”
“DevOps cannot be obtained overnight with a simple check and
a little training. It is a transformational approach to core
processes and it takes time, dedication and especially a team
that can implement DevOps practice.”
DevOps will fail…Unless! DASA Competence Model
“Organizational
change issues are
far more
challenging”

6. Teams still have difficulty collaborating,
communicating;; SILO mentality AND
failing to learn & apply end-­to-­end
(Biz, Dev, QA, Sec, Ops).
Strong focus remains on ‘Technology’ as a
solution.
“A Certificate will solve all our problems!”
Not an ‘Implementation’ – it is ITERATIVE!
The difficulty teams have with continual learning
& improvement techniques.
100’s of organizations
around the World!
Why Align with DASA?

7. Lack of focus on Leadership for fostering a
culture of Collaboration and getting rid of a
Blame culture.
Thinking it’s about Software;; poor
understanding of the Business.
Big growth in organizations using the SIM to
create effective teams (not individuals) and to
agree ‘What next’?
Lack of transfer of learning (Separate blog).
Why Align with DASA?

8. ✓Business role can be added to game to
extend to Bus-­Dev-­Ops
✓Focuses on core talent requirements
that the business is demanding
✓ ✓Teams must use Process engineering
tools (KanBan, Value Stream Mapping).✓
Why Align with DASA?

9. Why Align with DASA?

10. Change the way
we Train?
Why Align with DASA?

11. Change the way
we Train?
Why Align with DASA?

12. What does Theory to Practice look
like? How does that drive the change
needed in organizations?

13. Version 1.0© GamingWorks
Theory to Practice: What Does it Look Like?

14. Version 1.0© GamingWorks
• Interactive learning activity
• Group of learners, face to face
• Actors in a challenging, realistic context
• Focus on specific learning objectives
• Aimed at solving day to day problems
• Based on Learning by doing
• A safe environment to learn
Theory to Practice: What Does it Look Like?

15. Why a Simulation?
Why Learning by Doing?
Blooms Taxonomy

16. Why a Simulation?
Why Learning by Doing?
Blooms Taxonomy

17. Why a Simulation?
Why Learning by Doing?
Blooms Taxonomy

18. What are some key takeaways
people are seeing and how does
that tie back in with the DASA
Competence Model?

19. 70%
of everything
Spent on IT
doesn’t meet
functional goals
More often,
Much faster,
ability to
fail to achieve
functional goals
whilst at the
same time
creating
incidents
more regularly
and quicker?
DevOpsBiz
Key Learning Takeaways

20. Why do we DO DevOps?
How can we measure
success?
The Phoenix Project simulation
Key Learning Takeaways

21. • 4 rounds to practice
• End of session capture agreed
takeaway actions
“….doing the game after the training adds real
value. After lots of theory, exercises and
discussions, the real message and value of DevOps
really sinks in during the game. Most valuable!”
Key Learning Takeaways
“Improving your work is just as
important as doing your work”.

22. State
of
DevOps finding:
Improving
quality
is
everyone’s
job.
High-­‐performing
organizations
spend
22
percent
less
time
on
unplanned
work
and
rework.
As
a
result,
they
are
able
to
spend
29
percent
more
time
on
new
work,
such
as
new
features
or
code.
‘…The
DevOps mantra
of
continuous
improvement
is
both
exciting
and
real,
pushing
companies
to
be
their
best,
and
leaving
behind
those
who
do
not
improve’.
Key Learning Takeaways

23. DASA Competence Framework Revisited
1-­ Novice / 2-­ Competent / 3 -­ Proficient
4 -­ Expert / 5 -­ Master
Knowledge
Areas
Skill Areas
Courage
Teambuilding
DevOps Leadership
Continuous improvement
Business Value Optimization
Business Analysis
Architecture & Design
Programming
Continuous Delivery
Test Specification
Infrastructure Engineering
Security, Risk & Compliance
Knowledge Areas Skills Areas
Architecture
and Design
Business Value
Optimization
Business
Analysis
Test
Specification
Dave
Engineer

24. Courage
• Everybody has the right to say stop!
• No blame.
• You make it, you manage it.
• Experimentation…

25. Leadership
• A culture for sharing knowledge
• T-­shape skills, not just technology skills
• Empowering teams to change

26. Continuous Improvement
• Teams need to reserve time for reflection
and improving their work.
• Visual management
• Service management needs to be included
• BizDevOps

27. Team Building
• All new DevOps teams need a
consultant/coach
• A culture for sharing knowledge
• Visual management should be built by
the team members themselves

28. ▪ Concrete, shared, agreed actions to take away
▪ Clear insight into additional skills
▪ Recognized need for additional coaching
▪ Leadership commitment
Recapping Key Takeaways

29. ▪ Stand-­Alone: awareness
▪ Combined: Add on or integrate
into fundamentals or practitioner
▪ As an in-­house instrument to
develop Team skills
▪ As a strategic session to
‘scope & agree DevOps
▪ As an assessment to identify
additional skills & training needs
Where does the Simulation fit in?

30. Questions?

31. Contact Us..
31
Kimberly Betty
DASA Marketing Lead
Kimberly.betty@devopsagileskills.org
Paul Wilkinson
GamingWorks co-­Founder, Director
p.wilkinson@gamingworks.nl

32. About DASA
The DevOps Agile Skills Association

33. About the DevOps Agile Skills Association (DASA)
DASA is an independent and open,
members driven association supporting the
development of DevOps training and
certification to the global market.
Advocating the development of high-­
Performance IT Professionals and Teams
through agile DevOps initiatives.

34. Thank You!