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Greater Than Code

191: Sitting Down Together with Amy Tobey

02:14 - Amy’s Superpower: Looking at a mess and seeing the potential for what it could be.

03:40 - Generalists vs Specialists

“The job description should describe the capabilities that the team needs, not that the individual needs.”

15:28 - Finding a “Beautiful” Mess in Technical Systems

“The biggest impediment to change is your users.” – Jessica

22:40 - Artisanal and Industrial Modes of Production

  • Systems are indelibly stamped by the experience of the people who built them

28:25 - Design, Use, and Reliability

32:30 - Convincing Executives to Care About a Thing

  • Now vs Later
  • Where do we spend our attention to maximize value?
  • Viable System Model
  • Context Over Control / Communication Without Authority

41:08 - Whistleblowing is Good Because Misuse of Authority is Bad

51:33 - SRE (Site Reliability Engineering)

“The goal of SRE is to change the way your organization relates to the systems it runs.” – Rein

Reflections:

Jessica: Bonus question: Amy, why do you hate the word, “mature”?

Rein: “A problem is an abstraction extracted from a mess via analysis.” – Russel Ackoff

Amy: Models: We keep trying the same patterns and complaining about the same outcomes.

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Special Guest: Amy Tobey.

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