DevOps and Groupthink: An Oxymoron?




DevOps teams bring together specialists from different disciplines with sometimes conflicting views on what is most important. This might form the basis for preventing groupthink; however, all closely-knit teams are susceptible to groupthink, a cultural attitude that implicitly rewards members whose striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action. For example, DevOps team members from different functional specialties may often defer to the expert in a particular realm to solve individual problems. Teams also recognize that they have to solve issues quickly and decisively, and may defer to the team member with the most authoritative voice. This presentation examines the development of groupthink within devops teams. It draws upon the research of Irving Janus, Daniel Kaheman and Carol Dweck to look at how biases and mindsets contribute to groupthink, and why groupthink invariably leads to poor decision-making.

Speakers

gerie-owen

Gerie Owen

 
Gerie Owen is a Test Architect who specializes in developing and managing test teams. She has implemented various Quality Assurance methodology models, and has developed, trained and mentored new ...peter-varhol

Peter Varhol

 
Peter Varhol is a well-known writer and speaker on software and technology topics, having authored dozens of articles and spoken at a number of industry conferences and webcasts. He has advanced ...