SEPTEMBER 2014openstacksv.com

The Lie of The Benevolent Dictator

The Truth of a Democratic Meritocracy!Randy Bias, CEO

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Do we need a benevolent dictator?

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OpenStack *has* a leadership, or at least governance/management structure

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Board

Foundation

TC

Developer Community

PTLs Ind.Plat. Gold Ind.

ED

Rel Mgr Ind. Corp.

Subcommittees• legal• finance• DefCore• etc.

User Committee• nascent• user survey

RM

elected

appointed

hired

volunteer

Strategic Business Direction Tactical Software Dev Life Cycle

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But is it the right kind of leadership?

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Does OpenStack have a product vision and product

strategy?

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NO!

Does OpenStack have a product vision and product

strategy?

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The Gap

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Board TC

Strategic Business Direction Tactical Software Dev Life Cycle

Strategic Product Vision &

Direction?No one owns!!

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“product strategy” for open source project(s) ?

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Product strategy and vision will not “emerge” from a group

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We are a democratic meritocracy

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We are a democratic meritocracy

We are not the Linux community

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We are a democratic meritocracy

We are not the Linux community

We don’t need a dictator, but we do need product leadership

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Some Product Leadership Requirements not a complete list, OK?

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• OpenStack is NOT a Product, BUT … It Must Be Managed Like One• Long term vision + long term prioritization & planning• Corporate independence

• Work for the community: developers, operators, and end-users

• Focus on end-user needs and requirements• Working with the user committee, obviously…

• Ability to work closely with the Board and the TC• Priority setting, vision, etc.

• Architectural oversight and leadership

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Some Product Leadership Requirements

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What does AWS do?

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• Small architecture review board• Werner Vogels, James Hamilton, etc.

• Product management function• Team of product managers per product line

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What does Amazon do for product leadership?

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What *might* we do?

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• Arch Review Board (ARB)• Elected for 2-4 years• Small # of seats• Wide set of domain expertise• Remit is:• work with TC on BP/Specs• help PMs validate priority

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What could we do? (Just a SUGGESTION)

• Product Management (PM)• Not elected• 1+ per program• Specific domain expertise• Work for the Foundation• Annual 360° feedback• Remit is:• priority setting & negotiation

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Foundation

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Board TC

Developer Community

PTLs Ind.Plat. Gold Ind.

ED

Rel Mgr

Ind. Corp.

Subcommittees• legal• finance• DefCore• etc.

User Committee• nascent• user survey

elected

appointed

hired

volunteer

Strategic Business Direction Tactical Software Dev Life Cycle

ARB • Shared

chair?• Elected PTL

seat?• Independents• Long term

Architects

Prod. Mgrs

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Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship

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Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship

Product leadership cannot be emergent

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Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship

Product leadership cannot be emergent

Many paths forward; *all* require creating ownership

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SEPTEMBER 2014 Page

Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship

Product leadership cannot be emergent

Many paths forward; *all* require creating ownership

Collective responsibility to fix this

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SEPTEMBER 2014 Page

Product leadership the issue; NOT dictatorship

Product leadership cannot be emergent

Many paths forward; *all* require creating ownership

Collective responsibility to fix this

Failure to fix may result in insurmountable challenges

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Thank you

@randybias

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