Making DevOps Work: What Leaders Need to Know

Based on the article “Tell-Tale Signs of Fake DevOps” by Nikolay Gekht.

We started this series by breaking down how to spot fake DevOps and what causes it. Now we turn to a more critical question: What can leaders do to prevent it from taking root in the first place?

Let’s start with the reality: not every team member needs to grasp the full philosophy of DevOps. But for the leaders guiding these initiatives, understanding is essential. Implementation without comprehension creates dysfunction. Preventing fake DevOps takes deliberate leadership, grounded in a complete and disciplined approach.

Leading with the Three Ways

The Three Ways form the basis of true DevOps. It’s the leader’s job to ensure the team understands them, embraces them, and puts them into practice.

1. Create, Simplify, and Straighten the Flow of Value Production

This isn’t just about faster releases, it’s about removing friction. Leaders need to look across the delivery pipeline and ask: What’s slowing us down? Where’s the waste? Then clear the way. Systems thinking must replace silo thinking.

2. Create and Shorten Feedback Loops

DevOps without feedback is just an automation show. Leaders must ensure feedback loops are short, frequent, and honest — embedded into every stage of the lifecycle, from code commits to customer impact. Moving fast is not enough. Without feedback, there’s no way to steer, adjust, or improve.

3. Create a Culture of Continuous Improvement, Learning, and Knowledge Sharing

DevOps thrives in a culture of experimentation, growth, and openness. That requires leadership that invites questions, supports learning, and turns feedback and mistakes into forward motion.

Putting DevOps Principles to Work

1. DevOps Culture

DevOps starts with culture. Without trust, shared goals, and real collaboration, even the best tools won’t get you far.

2. Automation of Routine Actions

Leaders should automate what slows teams down or increases risk, such as repetitive deployments, testing, and environment setup. The goal is not speed for its own sake. It is reliable delivery, fewer mistakes, and more time for solving real problems.

3.  Measurement

What gets measured gets improved, but only if you're measuring what matters. Metrics should reflect outcomes like reliability, lead time, and customer impact, not just internal activity.

4. Lean Management

DevOps leaders apply lean thinking to both product and process. That means reducing waste, improving flow, and focusing on the work that delivers real customer value.

5. Sharing

DevOps depends on transparency. Leaders must encourage the open sharing of knowledge, responsibility, and progress so teams can work together, learn faster, and deliver better.

Leadership That Prevents Fake DevOps

Any tool, process, or method is only as effective as the mindset behind it. It’s the leader’s job to ensure that every action ties back to the core ways and principles of DevOps. Skip even one, and you risk building a façade instead of a foundation.

You can find the original article, “Tell-Tale Signs of Fake DevOps” by Nikolay Gekht, in the Agile Bulletin 2023.