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DevOps is a Metaphor

It finally dawned on me why people struggle with defining DevOps.  If someone is truly trying to define DevOps, they will start to realize it is different in different context.  I have tried many times and each time I slant my response to the situation or what is important to me at the time.  You have seen DevSecOps, DevTestOps, DevOpsSomething and so on.  This is because people are trying to use the fundamental point of DevOps to describe more examples of it.  This made me realize that if you view DevOps as a culture, you will start using it to define more than just "dev" and "ops" because it is a metaphor.

DevOps is really a metaphor for two opposing entities that clash when required to work together because they have different goals and motivators.  Dev wants to change and Ops wants stability.  Apply the same concept to other challenges like Dev/Test, ITIL/Agile, Offense/Defense, Politics/Religion, Blacks/Whites, Husband/Wife, InSource/OutSource and many more.  Think about the core of DevOps: Transparency, Empathy, Lean Thinking, Blameless, Shared Goals, and define interactions through code. If you apply all of these concepts to each of these items, you can see how they can improve and be successful together.  You can apply this to every interaction.  The successful IT professionals are able to apply DevOps in everything they do because they get it, DevOps is a metaphor for a better way of treating humans.

PS.  You might be thinking, how can you define interactions through code between a husband and wife.  Well realistically you can't but think how much better it would be if you had every conversation, agreement or decision in a code repository to reference every time there was a dispute in a marriage.  Yes, momma would still be right but you could fork the repo when she changes her mind. :)

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