DevOps is about a few things but above all, it’s about communication and understanding each other. In that spirit, I decided to create a new day to celebrate: “Like your colleagues’ day”. The rules are simple:
The first rule of like your colleagues’ day is: You do not talk about Fight…
- Each year, on the last Thursday before summer (Thursday the 18th of June this year).
Thursdays are ideal days to make people happy since they’re right before the week-end but not totally there. Right before the summer as it’s all sunny and nice outside.
- Present a token of your affection to your dear colleagues. Remember, it is a token, not a romantic dinner for 2 in a 3 stars restaurant in Paris. It could be anything from a rose to a beer after work or anything that makes sense to you and the person who receives the gift.
- Since DevOps is all about loving each other, the day is called “colleagueS’ day”, meaning that you should make as many people happy as you can. A box of chocolates for a team is a good way to make many happy at once for example.
- Once again, DevOps is about love so you should also consider this day as a good opportunity to bury the hatchet. If you have notoriously grumpy colleagues, maybe all they need is some consideration. A smile, an uninterested chat (meaning you actually listen to what’s being said and do not expect anything in return) and maybe a sweet or a coffee are excellent ways to make people around you happy.
- Even better, try to make someone you do not know happy. After all, people you have not talked to yet might be full of surprises, right?
- Money is not the point. For once, you can bake a cake, you can offer to get coffee for your colleagues, you can listen to them and maybe even share a bit too, after all discussions are better with two or more persons.
Actions have consequences.
It’s quite simple really, once you’ve introduced your colleagues to the concept (beforehand for better results) and the day has happened, take a step back and draw your own conclusions.
The first few times I have tried this, only a few persons followed but as the actions were not focused on one person only, others got to enjoy the day and joined in in later editions. The results were above expectations, people got to talk about food, cakes and pretty much everything that can be said during mingling. Where I really saw a good DevOps potential in this is when people from different teams started to play the game and started to communicate together. Some went for beers after work and got to know each other, making things smoother and easier at work afterwards.
LYCID is also a good opportunity to have activities. While you can think of a management breakfast, it’s not too hard to imagine a technological lunch where everyone is invited or a wine/beer lottery in which everyone can play. As long as the normal work time is respected, everyone should be happy.
Don’t stop me now, I’m having such a good time.
Well, you get the point by now, make your colleagues happy and try to create a better work atmosphere by being nice to each other. But that should also open your mind a bit and maybe you could apply a layer of niceness to the world around you. Let people out before going in the subway, hold the door to the person behind you, try to smile when you think the moment is right (you have to figure that out for yourself) and why not, give your change to the first person in need you see.
This can sound naïve, maybe borderline stupid but imagine a world in which people were nice to each other, no matter the social class, gender, religion… If we were a bit more tolerant, a touch nicer to everyone and a tad less self-centered, this world could actually be really pleasant to leave in.
Add a pinch of DevOps in that and what do you get?
Repeat the operation as many times as you want, being nice never killed anyone. Make it a part of your personal and professional culture to be nice, available and polite. Through an iterative process, determine when you can smile without looking like Forest Gump and after a while it will be automatic, you will naturally become good and this will feel nice, trust me. Check the impact of what you did on your colleagues, measure their happiness and if you think things did not change enough, don’t wait until next year, be spontaneous and repeat the operation. After all, baking a cake and getting the coffee for your team should not take too much time or efforts, should it?
If you feel this could do a difference, spread the word, DevOps is about communication and sharing. Feel free to improve the rules, feel free to ignore some, in the end, all I want is to make you happy.
I’ve said this before during a conference but as we talk about unicorns, rainbows and other nice things when we mention DevOps, why not dream that we could also make a little difference in the world surrounding us. A little is better than nothing. DevOps could save the world!