The Unicorn Project
The
Unicorn
Project
Titles by Gene Kim
Fiction
The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win (2013), co-authored with Kevin Behr and George Spafford
The Unicorn Project: A Novel about Developers, Digital Disruption, and Thriving in the Age of Data
Non-Fiction
Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations (2018), co-authored with Nicole Forsgren, PhD, and Jez Humble
Beyond The Phoenix Project: The Origin and Evolution of DevOps (Audio) (2018), co-authored with John Willis
The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations (2016), co-authored with Jez Humble, Patrick Debois, and John Willis
Visible Ops Security: Achieving Common Security and IT Operations Objectives in 4 Practical Steps (2008), co-authored with Paul Love and George Spafford
The Visible Ops Handbook: Implementing ITIL in 4 Practical and Auditable Steps (2005), co-authored with Kevin Behr and George Spafford
The Unicorn Project
A Novel about Developers,
Digital Disruption, and
Thriving in the Age of Data
Gene Kim
IT Revolution
Portland, OR
25 NW 23rd Pl, Suite 6314
Portland, OR 97210
Copyright © 2019 by Gene Kim
All rights reserved, for information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, IT Revolution Press, LLC, 25 NW 23rd Pl, Suite 6314, Portland, OR 97210
First Edition
Printed in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Book design by Devon Smith Creative
Cover image by eBoy
Cover design by Joy Stauber, Stauber Brand Studio
Author Photograph by Anna Mayer Photography
Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication Data
Available Upon Request
ISBN: 978-1942788768
eBook ISBN: 978-1942788775
Kindle ISBN: 978-1942788782
Web PDF ISBN: 978-1942788799
Publisher’s note: Portions of this book were based on talks and articles by different thinkers and industry leaders with their permission and are included in the references of this book.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases or for information on booking authors for an event, please visit our website at www.ITRevolution.com.
THE UNICORN PROJECT
Dedication
To my dad, Byung Kim (1937–2019), who really, really wanted me to get this book done.
To the loves of my life: my wife, Margueritte, and our three sons, Reid, Parker, and Grant, who also really, really wanted me to get this book done.
To the achievements of the DevOps Enterprise scenius, which this book is inspired by and celebrates.
Note to the Reader
The Unicorn Project takes place “in the present day,” and is a companion novel to The Phoenix Project (which also takes place “in the present day”). The events from both novels take place concurrently, although certain situational elements of The Unicorn Project have been altered to account for changes in our industry.
While both books are about Parts Unlimited, The Unicorn Project was written to be a standalone book—there is absolutely no need to read or re-read The Phoenix Project first! (You may recognize some characters from The Phoenix Project—but then again, don’t worry if you don’t!)
Because the two books were written six years apart, there may be some suspension of disbelief required—for example, everyone’s awareness of the Retail Apocalypse and the use of ride-sharing (Uber, Lyft) is much higher now than it was when The Phoenix Project was written.
For those who need some concrete waypoints, the characters who appeared in The Phoenix Project are indicated as such in the cast of characters, and there is a rough timeline of the two books provided as an endnote (beware, there may be spoilers!).
Parts Unlimited Employee Directory
REDSHIRTS
Maxine Chambers, Developer Lead, Architect
Kurt Reznick, QA Manager
“Cranky Dave” Brinkley, Developer Lead
Shannon Corman, Security Engineer
Adam Flynn, QA Engineer
Dwayne Cox, Lead Infrastructure Engineer
➢Brent Geller, Ops Lead
JUNIOR OFFICERS
Randy Keyes, Dev Manager
Purna Sathyaraj, QA and Release Manager
Rick Willis, QA Manager
➢William Mason, Director of QA
➢Wes Davis, Director of Distributed Technology Operations
➢Patty McKee, Director of IT Service Support
BRIDGE CREW
➢Steve Masters, CEO, Acting CIO
➢Dick Landry, CFO
➢Sarah Moulton, SVP of Retail Operations
➢Chris Allers, VP of Application Development
➢Kirsten Fingle, Director of Project Management
➢Maggie Lee, Senior Director of Retail Program Management
➢Bill Palmer, VP of IT Operations
➢John Pesche, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
STARFLEET COMMAND
Alan Perez, New Board Director, Operating Partner, Wayne-Yokohama Equity Partners
➢Bob Strauss, Lead Director, Former Chairman, Former CEO
➢Erik Reid, Prospective Board Director
➢Indicates characters who appear in The Phoenix Project.
PROLOGUE
• Tuesday, September 2
From:
Steve Masters (CEO, Parts Unlimited)
To:
All Parts Unlimited Employees
Cc:
Dick Landry (CFO, Parts Unlimited),
Laura Beck (VP Human Resources)
Date:
11:50 p.m., September 2
Subject:
Payroll Failure
To fellow employees of Parts Unlimited,
Early this morning, several thousand timecards were corrupted due to a technical failure, mostly affecting employees and contractors in our manufacturing facilities and retail stores.
My goal is to ensure that everyone gets paid as soon as possible. Anyone who was underpaid should get a check in the next twenty-four hours.
As CEO, my job is to ensure that we fulfill our obligations to our employees, who make the daily work of this organization possible. Without you, we would not be able to serve our customers, who depend on us to keep their cars running to conduct their daily lives.
I apologize to you and everyone who depends on you for the problems and inconveniences this payroll issue causes. I commit to you that we will provide all necessary help, including communicating with any bill collectors, banks, etc.
At the bottom of this email you will find a list of Frequently Asked Questions from HR and Business Operations. If you are not getting help quickly enough, please email me or call me on my office phone anytime.
In the meantime, our top priority is to understand what factors led to this failure, and we will do whatever it takes to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
Steve Masters,
CEO, Parts Unlimited
From:
Chris Allers (VP Dev, Parts Unlimited)
To:
All IT Employees
Cc:
Bill Palmer (VP IT Ops), Steve Masters (CEO),
Dick Landry (CFO, Parts Unlimited)
Date:
12:30 a.m., September 3
Subject:
Corrective a
ctions for the payroll failure
All—
Because of the high-profile nature of the payroll outage, we have conducted a thorough root-cause analysis. We have concluded that it was due to both human error and a technology failure. We have taken decisive actions to ensure that it will not happen again. The person responsible has been reassigned to a role where they can no longer affect production outcomes.
If you have any questions, please email me.
—Chris
Elkhart Grove Herald Times
Parts Unlimited Flubs Paychecks, Local Union Leader Calls Failure ‘Unconscionable’
Automotive parts supplier Parts Unlimited has failed to issue correct paychecks to some of its hourly factory workers, and others haven’t received any compensation for their work, according to a Parts Unlimited internal memo. The company denies that the issue is connected to cash flow problems and instead attributes the error to a payroll system failure.
The once high-flying $4 billion company has been plagued by flagging revenue and growing losses in recent quarters. These financial woes, which some blame on a failure of upper management, have led to rampant job insecurity among local workers struggling to support their families.
According to the memo, whatever the cause of the pay roll failure, employees might have to wait days or weeks to be compensated.
“This is just the latest in a long string of management execution missteps by the company in recent years,” according to Nestor Meyers Chief Industry Analyst Kelly Lawrence.
Parts Unlimited CFO Dick Landry did not return phone calls from the Herald Times requesting comment on the payroll issue, accounting errors and questions of managerial competency.
In a statement issued on behalf of Parts Unlimited, Landry expressed regret at the “glitch,” and vowed that the mistake would not be repeated. The Herald Times will continue to post updates as the story progresses.
PART ONE
September 3–September 18
CHAPTER 1
• Wednesday, September 3
“You’re doing what?” Maxine blurts out, staring in disbelief at Chris, VP of R&D at Parts Unlimited.
Chris smiles weakly from behind his desk. Even he realizes how absurd he sounds, Maxine thinks.
“Maxine, I’m really sorry about this. I know it’s a terrible way to come back from vacation, but this payroll outage created an incredible crap storm. The CEO and CFO wanted heads to roll. We agonized about this for days, but I think we came up with a pretty good solution … after all, no one is getting fired.”
Maxine slaps the printed copy of his email onto his desk. “You say right here that it was caused by ‘human error and a technology failure.’ And now you say that I’m the ‘human error’? After all that time we spent together deciding how to resolve that compliance finding, you’re placing all the blame on me? What sort of bullshit is this?” She glares at him furiously.
“I know, I know … It’s not right,” Chris says, squirming under Maxine’s intense gaze. “Everyone here values your incredible skills and talents and your fantastic contributions to the company over the last eight years—no one actually believes it was your fault. But the payroll issue was front-page news! Dick had to give a quote to keep the unions from filing a grievance! Given all that, I felt like we came up with the best solution in a pretty awful situation.”
“So you blame the person who was on vacation because that person couldn’t defend herself?” Maxine says in disgust. “That’s really admirable, Chris. Which leadership book did you get that from?”
“Come on, Max, you know I’m your biggest fan and biggest defender. In fact, take this as a huge compliment—you have one of the most stellar reputations of anyone in IT,” Chris says.
Blaming someone for a payroll outage is a strange way of appreciating someone, she thinks.
He continues, “Everyone knows that this isn’t actually your fault. Just think of this as a vacation—you can work on anything you want, and you won’t have any real responsibilities if you don’t want.”
Maxine is about to respond when she thinks about what she just heard. “Wait, treat exactly what like a vacation, Chris?”
“Uh …” Chris stammers, buckling under her stare. Maxine let’s him squirm. As a woman in what remains a largely male dominated profession, she knows her directness might be contributing to Chris’ discomfort, but she will always stand up for herself.
“… I promised Steve and Dick that I’d put you in a role where you couldn’t make any production changes anymore,” Chris says, squirming. “So, uh, effective immediately, you’re moving from the manufacturing plant ERP systems to help with documentation for the Phoenix Project …”
“You’re sending me to …” Maxine can’t breathe. She can’t believe what she’s hearing.
“Look, Max, all you have to do is lie low for four months. Then you can come back and have your choice of any project you want to work on, okay?” Chris says. Smiling weakly, he adds, “See, like a vacation, right?”
“Oh, my God …” she says, finding her voice again. “You’re sending me to the Phoenix Project?!” she nearly yells. Maxine immediately kicks herself for this brief moment of weakness. She takes a deep breath, adjusts her blazer, and pulls herself together.
“This is bullshit, Chris, and you know it!” she says right into his face, pointing her finger at him.
Maxine’s mind races, thinking about what she knows about the Phoenix Project. None of it is good. For years, it’s been the company death-march project, having ensnared hundreds of developers, achieving unprecedented levels of notoriety. Maxine is pretty sure that the reason nothing is going right is simply because they’re not doing anything right.
Despite the Phoenix Project’s obvious failures, it keeps going. With the rise of e-commerce and the decline of physical stores, everyone knows something has to be done to ensure that Parts Unlimited stays relevant in the increasingly digital age.
Parts Unlimited is still one of the largest players in the industry, with nearly a thousand stores across the nation. But there are times when Maxine wonders how the company will fare beyond its hundredth anniversary, which wasn’t that long ago.
The Phoenix Project is supposed to be the solution, the shining hope that will lead the company into the future. It’s now three years late (and counting) and $20 million has disappeared, with nothing to show for it except developer suffering. It stinks of impending failure, which will have grave implications for the company.
“You’re going to take one of your best people and exile her to the Phoenix Project because you need a fall guy for the payroll outage?” Maxine says, her frustration boiling over. “This is not a compliment—this is the best way that you can say, ‘Screw you, Maxine!’ Hell, there’s probably nothing in Phoenix that is even worth documenting! Unless it’s to document incompetence? This is like labeling all the deck chairs on the Titanic. Have I said that this is bullshit already, Chris?”
“I’m sorry, Maxine,” Chris says, throwing up his hands. “It’s the best I could do for you. Like I said, no one is actually blaming you. Just do your time and it’ll all go back to normal soon enough.”
Maxine sits, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and steeples her hands in front of her, trying to think.
“Okay, okay …” she says. “You need a fall guy. I get it. I can take the blame for this whole fiasco. That’s cool, that’s cool … that’s how business is done at times, right? No hard feelings. Just … put me to work in the cafeteria or in vendor management. I don’t care. Anywhere but the Phoenix Project.”
Listening to herself, Maxine’s aware that in less than two minutes she’s moved from denial to anger and is now in full-blown bargaining mode. She’s pretty sure she’s missed a step in the Kübler-Ross grief cycle, but at the moment she can’t think of which one.
“Chris,” she continues. “I have nothing against documentation. Everyone deserves good documentation. But there are tons of places that ne
ed documentation way more than Phoenix does. Let me go make a bigger impact somewhere else. Just give me an hour or two to come up with some ideas.”
“Look, Maxine. I hired you eight years ago because of your amazing skills and experience. Everyone knows you enable teams to do the impossible with software,” Chris says. “That’s why I fought for you, and why you’ve led the software teams that are responsible for all our supply chains and internal manufacturing processes for all twenty-three manufacturing plants. I know how good you are … But, Maxine, I’ve done everything I can. Unfortunately, the decision has already been made. Just do your time, don’t rock the boat, and come back when everything blows over,” he says, looking so remorseful that Maxine actually believes him.
“There are executives being shot left and right, and not just over this fiasco,” Chris continues. “The board of directors just stripped Steve Masters of the chairmanship, so now he’s just CEO. And both the CIO and VP of IT Operations were fired yesterday, no explanations given, so Steve is now acting CIO too. Absolutely everyone is worried that there is going to be even more blood in the streets …”
Chris looks to make sure the door is closed and, in a lower voice, says, “And there are rumors of potentially even bigger and more sweeping changes coming …”
Chris pauses, as if he might have said too much. He continues, “Look, whenever you’re ready, go get yourself set up with Randy, the Phoenix development manager—he’s a good guy. Like I said, think of this as a four-month vacation. Seriously, do whatever you think will be helpful. Heck, you don’t need to do anything at all. Just keep your head down. Don’t rock the boat. And whatever you do, just stay off Steve and Dick’s radar. Sound good?”
Maxine squints at Chris as he name-drops Steve Masters and Dick Landry, the CEO and CFO of Parts Unlimited. She sees them every other month during the company Town Halls. How did she go from a two-week vacation seeing the wondrous sights of Kuala Lumpur to having Chris dump all this crap on her?