What Causes Fake DevOps?

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

Fake DevOps, like many imitations, happens when execution replaces understanding, when teams go through the motions but lose sight of the purpose behind them.

Think of a student who crams for a test the night before. They might memorize just enough to score well, but if you ask them the same questions a week later (or worse, to apply the concepts in a real-world situation), they’ll come up empty. The performance was there, but the learning wasn’t.

The same pattern plays out in tech teams: automation pipelines are built, deployments are scripted, and flashy tools are adopted. From the outside, it can all look impressive. But scratch the surface, and the missing piece becomes clear: there’s no real connection to business outcomes or the core principles DevOps was meant to serve.

That kind of disconnect doesn’t just happen. It sticks around for a reason, and not some grand one. It’s something much more ordinary, and far more common.

The Easy Way Out

The simplest answer? Because it’s easier.

Mimicking best practices without understanding them is significantly less demanding than learning the principles behind them. Following recipes means less thinking, less accountability, and far fewer difficult decisions. It provides a shield of plausible deniability – after all, “everyone else is doing it,” and “the experts recommended it.”

But that still leaves the real question unanswered. If we want to understand the real cause, we have to ask harder questions:

• Why are teams disconnected from business outcomes?

• Why is there so little appetite for learning foundational principles?

• Would they even benefit from DevOps, or are they just following a script?

The Path of Least Resistance

The uncomfortable truth is that people (teams, leaders, even entire organizations) tend to follow the path of least resistance. When faking DevOps is easier, faster, and less risky than real transformation, it becomes the default.

This pattern only gets stronger in environments where short-term activity is praised more than long-term results. It thrives where being visibly busy is rewarded over delivering meaningful outcomes. And it endures where questioning the status quo rarely feels worth the effort.

That’s how fake DevOps becomes sustainable.

The Way Forward

But when the wrong patterns are left unchallenged, nothing really changes. What we need most are better questions. When those questions are addressed with honesty, the shift begins.

Leadership defines clear, measurable goals that connect engineering efforts to business value. Teams find a reason to care about outcomes. And organizations create conditions where doing the right thing is not only possible but expected.

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