building stories around devops mentorship

Building a story around Ops Mentorship@JohnContad

i. Foreword: “What is the meaning of all of this?”

ii. Prologue: Stories are a means of providing context to our lives.

ii. Prologue: Stories are a means of providing context to our lives.

“What is the story?” =

“What is the purpose?”

Part I: The Structure

Approach 1: The “Die Hard” Model

Approach 1: “Fix this.”

Approach 1: The “Die Hard” Model

• “Sink or swim.”• Characterized by diving straight into

problems or broken things• Most often the first approach

Approach 1: The “Die Hard” Model

Pros:• Needs little prep time• Very hands on, kinesthetic• High returns of experiential knowledgeCons:• Pairing-heavy• Monolithic in nature• Takes a while to understand the full context• Provides slowest learning speed

Approach 2: The “Karate Kid” Model

Approach 2: “One thing at a time.”

Approach 2: The “Karate Kid” Model

• “Let’s learn the fundamentals first.”• Learning in modules• Overcorrection after trying the first

approach

Approach 2: The “Karate Kid” Model

Pros:• Repeatable• Can be assigned to schedules• Can structure so it’s self-drivenCons:• Low on experiential knowledge• Takes time to prepare• Provides longest time to overall context

Approach 3: The “Rocky Balboa” Model

Approach 3: The “Rocky Balboa” Model

Approach 3: The “Rocky Balboa” Model

• “This is what we’re going to build. This is the knowledge you’ll need.”

• Modularized, while maintaining overall context

• Anchored by an end-goal, or artifact

Approach 3: The “Rocky Balboa” Model

Pros:• Best of both worlds (repeatability, experiential knowledge)• Provides the fastest understanding of how things tie

together• Structured, but modularized enough that it’s flexible

Cons:• Takes the longest time to prepare

Part II: The Components

A Story Needs: Supporting Characters

Mentors

• Not about technical ability, but about experience

• Not steering, but directional advice• Not just about teaching, but learning

A Story Needs: A Goal

• A thing you can take home and improve• A skill you can demonstrate• A person you could be

A Story Needs: Character Growth

• Clear indication of parts that have improved, parts that need work

• Indication of increments• A “moment of proving”

Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Part III: Denouement

“What is the meaning of all of this?”

The Hedonic Treadmill

The Hedonic Treadmill

“…adopting "non-zero sum" goals, those which enrich one's relationships with others and with society as a whole (i.e. family-oriented and altruistic goals), increase the level of subjective well-being.”

- Bruce Headey (A Revision of Set-Point Theory)

Outcomes

• Higher levels of satisfaction• Improved communication skills• Increased ability to think in terms of long

term goals vs short-term outcomes

Part III: Denouement

Two questions.

Epilogue: What’s next?

Thank you!

@JohnContad