Google SRE Prodcast The One with STPA, Jeffrey Snover, and Theo Klein
4 snips
Jul 2, 2025 
In this engaging conversation, Theo Klein, a Site Reliability Engineer at Google with a passion for STPA, and Jeffrey Snover, a Distinguished Engineer at Google and former Microsoft veteran, dive into Systems Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA). They discuss how STPA shifts the focus from component failures to understanding system control failures. The duo emphasizes the importance of human involvement in system design, revealing how early STPA implementation can identify potential risks before coding begins, ultimately leading to safer and more robust systems.
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STPA Reframes System Failures
- STPA sees system failures as control issues, not just component failures.
- Accidents happen when control within the system is lost, shifting the focus to system behavior.
Control and Feedback in Systems
- Control means authority to impose actions on controlled processes in a system.
- STPA models feedback loops where misinterpretation causes continued system outages.
Road Closure System Flaw Found Early
- STPA revealed three serious design flaws in a road closure system before coding began.
- A flaw where failed retries caused missing road closures went unnoticed until STPA analysis.
