In this engaging discussion, the hosts dive into the world of resilience engineering, sharing personal anecdotes that highlight its significance. They tackle the complexities of maintaining uptime and the common misconceptions surrounding it. The conversation turns to navigating job loss, where the importance of empathy and communication shines through during crises. There's also a call for community involvement, inviting listeners to join the conversation and share their experiences in fostering resilience in the workplace.
Resilience engineering fosters collaboration among engineers through shared experiences during incidents, enhancing collective learning and operational effectiveness.
Effective incident management requires a careful balance of keeping executives informed while minimizing their cognitive load on technical teams.
Deep dives
Introduction to Resilience Engineering
Resilience engineering is framed as a crucial aspect of software development that emphasizes understanding people's roles in both incidents and uptime events. Contrary to traditional views that may focus heavily on statistical metrics, resilience engineering promotes dialogue among engineers to share experiences and challenges, thus fostering a collaborative environment. This approach opens up discussions on how shared knowledge in team meetings can lead to increased resilience, allowing engineers to learn from one another’s struggles and successes. The podcast hosts emphasize the importance of making resilience engineering accessible and relatable to those new to the field.
Real-World Examples of Resilience
The hosts share personal experiences, painting a vivid picture of how real-world challenges in incident management highlight the principles of resilience engineering. They discuss the significance of regular check-ins where engineers can discuss their systems and offer help, showcasing how collaboration serves as a robust mechanism for resilience. One example involves engineers sharing dashboard struggles in meetings, leading to problem-solving discussions and collective learning. This illustrates that resilience isn't just about addressing failures but enhancing everyday operations through knowledge sharing.
Challenges with Organizational Communication
The complexity of communicating during incidents, particularly the difficulty of managing interactions with high-level executives, is discussed. The hosts agree that while executives may add value, their presence can complicate the incident response process due to additional cognitive load on the technical team. They propose maintaining a separate liaising channel to keep executives informed without disrupting active problem-solving efforts. This highlights the delicate balance of fostering empathy to understand high-level pressures while ensuring that technical teams can operate effectively.
Building Communities around Resilience
The establishment of a formal community dedicated to resilience engineering in software is introduced, marking a significant step towards collaborative growth in the field. The hosts reveal plans for a new foundation aimed at supporting resilience practices, indicating an expanding interest in structured learning and knowledge sharing. This initiative reflects their commitment to improving the resilience engineering landscape through formalized channels and communication platforms. By sharing their experiences and the importance of this community, they aim to inspire others to engage and contribute to resilience efforts across the industry.
The introduction episode of This is Fine! A podcast about resilience engineering in the software world. Clint and Colette discuss conferences and a little bit of their history. Then they answer a question from a (prospective) listener: How do you politely ask executives/senior members of a company to step away from an incident...?
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