The Phoenix Project
Book Review
A major initiative is way behind schedule. Requirements keep changing. The leadership team has been shaken up. Every software release only causes more problems. Customers are upset. Investors are on edge. Executives are threatening to outsource all software development. Teams are working night and day for weeks. Software takes weeks or months to deploy and still doesn’t work. And most work is dependent on a few key people.
If you’ve experienced any (or possibly all) of these issues, The Phoenix Project may be worth reading.
Overview
The Phoenix Project is a business novel that follows Bill Palmer, a midlevel IT manager at an auto parts company who finds himself promoted in the middle of the mess described above. Rather than a traditional business book, this one takes a more narrative form to explore why things go wrong, how it affects teams and the organization, and what can be done about it. It draws heavily on lean manufacturing and the Toyota Production System to make the case for DevOps within an organization.
The novel format helps take what could be a dry topic and turn it into something more accessible and pertinent (though I apologize if you find DevOps exciting). However, the format also has its limits. Don’t expect thoughtful character development or Cormac McCarthy prose. The characters, and the book, are vessels for delivering the lessons. It can feel contrived at times, but I like to think of it more as an exaggerated case study, so I’m willing to let a lot slide for the sake of the lessons. And it’s especially useful when reading with a team as you can draw parallels to your own work or experiences (which is what I’ve been doing).
But let’s talk about a few key ideas I found the most valuable.
Key Takeaways
Limit Work in Progress
One of the key lessons from the book is the idea of limiting work in progress. As Bill audits all the work in progress across his organization, he realizes that his team has hundreds of items in progress at any time and is failing to deliver on almost everything.
