

#4206
Mentioned in 7 episodes
The Unicorn Project
Book • 2019
The Unicorn Project is a fictionalized story about a DevOps transformation taking place at Parts Unlimited, the same company featured in 'The Phoenix Project'.
The book follows Maxine, a senior lead developer and architect, who is exiled to the Phoenix Project after contributing to a payroll outage.
She joins a group of corporate rebels aiming to overthrow the existing bureaucratic order, liberate developers, bring joy back to technology work, and enable the business to win in a time of digital disruption.
The novel introduces the five ideals of Locality and Simplicity; Focus, Flow and Joy; Improvement of Daily Work; Psychological Safety; and Customer Focus, which are crucial for creating an environment that fosters business innovation and productivity.
The book follows Maxine, a senior lead developer and architect, who is exiled to the Phoenix Project after contributing to a payroll outage.
She joins a group of corporate rebels aiming to overthrow the existing bureaucratic order, liberate developers, bring joy back to technology work, and enable the business to win in a time of digital disruption.
The novel introduces the five ideals of Locality and Simplicity; Focus, Flow and Joy; Improvement of Daily Work; Psychological Safety; and Customer Focus, which are crucial for creating an environment that fosters business innovation and productivity.
Mentioned by














Mentioned in 7 episodes
Mentioned by ![undefined]()

as an engaging novel about IT.

Randy Shoup

43 snips
A Half-Century of Silicon Valley with Randy Shoup
Mentioned by 

as having a big impact and being discussed in a previous episode.


Mik Kersten

23 snips
Episode 57: Gene Kim on "Wiring the Winning Organization," Unlocking High-Performance Organizations
Mentioned by 

in the context of software development challenges and solutions.


Carter Morgan

16 snips
Agile, Good or Bad? - The Agile Manifesto
Mentioned by 

and 

as a three-part series finale discussing software development and organizational change.


Carter Morgan


Nathan Toups

11 snips
New Horizons & Executive Politicking - The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim

Manuel Pais

Manuel Pais Reflects on Team Topologies
Recommended by Brian as a follow-up to The Phoenix Project, offering similar insights into software development processes.

#202 - The Best Books for Developers (That No One Talks About)
Mentioned by 

and 

as the main topic of the podcast episode, discussing its narrative and lessons for software engineers.


Carter Morgan


Nathan Toups

Local Development & Maddening Bureaucracy - The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim
Mentioned by 

when reading big enterprise customer case studies.


Carter Morgan

Deployment Strategies for Success - The DevOps Handbook
Mentioned as a compliment to DevOps Handbook, it is an allegorical story.

Is DevOps a Silver Bullet? - The DevOps Handbook
Mentioned by 

as a book that illustrates organizational restructuring and the importance of cross-functional teams.


Nathan Toups

Balancing Features and Systems Improvements - The Good News Factory by Kent Beck
Mentioned by Corey O'Daniel as one of 

's books, following The Phoenix Project.


Gene Kim

From DevOps to 'Vibe Coding': Gene Kim on AI-Assisted Development and Platform Engineering
Mentioned by 

as a book she enjoyed and drew inspiration from.


Tanya Janca

First Do No Harm - Security Challenges in Healthcare - Ed Gaudet, Tanya Janca - ESW #396
Mentioned by 

as a sequel to "The Phoenix Project", continuing the DevOps narrative.


Tanya Janca

ep2024-12 Tanya Janca: Happy Holidays are Secure Code
Mentioned by 

as one of 

's previous books.


Kevin Eikenberry


Gene Kim

Wiring the Winning Organization with Gene Kim
Mentioned by 

and 

as a narrative-driven book about software development challenges.


Carter Morgan


Nathan Toups

Guess That Quote! - Book Overflow 2024
Mentioned in relation to organizational change and the five ideals.

Accountability Retrospective - Book Overflow 2024
Mentioned by Nathan as a reference point and a companion to the DevOps Handbook.

Shifting Left on Security - The DevOps Handbook