<em>Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the China Production Game</em> by Paul Midler
An insider reveals what can―and does―go wrong when companies shift production to China
>In this entertaining behind-the-scenes account, Paul Midler tells us all that is wrong with our effort to shift manufacturing to China. Now updated and expanded, Poorly Made in China reveals industry secrets, including the dangerous practice of quality fade―the deliberate and secret habit of Chinese manufacturers to widen profit margins through the reduction of quality inputs. U.S. importers don’t stand a chance, Midler explains, against savvy Chinese suppliers who feel they have little to lose by placing consumer safety at risk for the sake of greater profit. This is a lively and impassioned personal account, a collection of true stories, told by an American who has worked in the country for close to two decades. Poorly Made in China touches on a number of issues that affect us all.
> My boss is an understanding person and knows that we're stressed, but the larger organization seems uninterested in reorganizing to lessen our burden.
That's all you really need to know. You expressed a concern about the health of the team(s), and the broader org said "no, this is fine". They can live with all the benefits and consequences that come with that decision. All you need to know is whether or not you can live with all the benefits and consequences of that decision.
> Are most jobs like this?
I would say no, but practices that promote burnout aren't exactly uncommon -- toil is one example.
It's not uncommon for organizational practices/structures to foster high levels of burnout, but most orgs who give a shit will tend to fix those problems because turnover tends to be more expensive than simply fixing the problems that cause the turnover. Kinda sorta depends on the business's priorities, though. Showing the value of strategic investment in technical resources is ... difficult at times. I like the approach taken by Accelerate -- numbers and figures are what your manager needs to be focusing on, though it is hard to do when you're drowning already and engagement from leadership is low to non-existent anyway.
That's great that you're being involved in the interview process. I think that should give you some confidence that your company are looking to hire the right person.
If you have the time, you may find the book "The Phoenix Project" an interesting read. It's a novella that builds a story about specific management and leadership styles and how they are used to turn around a struggling incumbent organisation from the point of view of a Senior IT Leader who is fresh in the role: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phoenix-Project-Devops-Helping-Business/dp/1942788290/ref=pd_lpo_14_t_0/257-0577089-4636535?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1942788290&pd_rd_r=4898482d-06c3-4e20-b6be-cdd9ae60bad3&pd_rd_w=GO3cY&pd_rd_wg=8oKPD&pf_rd_p=da0677f5-a47b-4543-8b54-10be576b8f26&pf_rd_r=2MK9VRWESAWE5PY4MD9C&psc=1&refRID=2MK9VRWESAWE5PY4MD9C
It is a made up story, but it paints a very good picture of how good IT leadership can work.
Here is a good book ‘Poorly Made in China’ that is written by the guy who literally knows the process from the inside. He explains how the good products become not good and why this process is the thing of the Chinese manufacturers.
Classic Brent. For anyone who hasn't done so already, read The Phoenix Project (or listen to it on Audible). It's great.
https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/0988262592
Read the book "The Phoenix Project" https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/1942788290
It does well at explaining its your job to enable business and not restrict it, while still being a (semi) interesting read via story telling.
The first step is changing your mindset, then others will too.
I agree with the overall point of learning and continuous improvement, but I think a lot of common sense and research indicates that Mean Time to Restore is a very important metric to measure and improve. And if I had to choose, I would definitely pick Mean Time to Restore over Mean Time to Retrospective. If you can measure both, great.
As an example, Time to Restore is one of four metrics included in Software Delivery and Operational Performance which predicts organizational performance, as shown in the State of DevOps reports and the related Accelerate book.
I had a boss that would tell us "whoever finishes first gets a prize!" And then when the first person finished, he'd hand them $5 and say "You win a shopping spree that the Dollar Tree!"
But yeah stay away from any type of food or cosmetic product at that place I remember reading that the factory workers in China handling the shampoo/bodywash type products that are sold in Dollar Tree were developing skin disease. This is the book: https://www.amazon.com/Poorly-Made-China-Insiders-Production/dp/0470928077/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
You can absolutely go faster. Not by saying "go faster," but there are practices and organizational techniques that make quantifiable differences in how fast you can deliver software. A lot of it's stuff we've already heard of: good version control practices, CI/CD, test automation, rapid feedback cycles, limiting work in progress, good communication, keeping processes lightweight, etc. There's even a research-backed book that delves into this.
I'm going to second that recommendation. DevOps is a really versatile role and you'll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of the scope involved so that you can confidently set expectations when applying for positions.
It's become a bit of a buzzword in the last year, but for a good reason. It's pretty much essential for agile development and overlaps strongly with architecture / infrastructure development.
There are two books by the same team of authors I strongly recommend reading, including non-referral amazon links below.
THIS! Here's the link on Amazon
the phoenix project is awesome!
EDIT*** this won't teach you technical things, but more of a life lesson and what to expect when working in the IT world and the business world. some times (alot of times) the two worlds don't mix well as you will soon discover lol
https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/0988262509
I agree with the overall point of learning and continuous improvement, but I think a lot of common sense and research indicates that Mean Time to Restore is a very important metric to measure and improve. And if I had to choose, I would definitely pick Mean Time to Restore over Mean Time to Retrospective. If you can measure both, great.
As an example, Time to Restore is one of four metrics included in Software Delivery and Operational Performance which predicts organizational performance, as shown in the State of DevOps reports and the related Accelerate book.
If the team is willing to pair program, they need to start. That makes code reviews much faster, easier, and higher quality.
You'll need to get your WIP down so one way to do this is to freeze all coding and focus the entire team on getting the current PRs merged. If that sounds crazy go read The Phoenix Project.
If you have all devs stop coding in the middle of their feature, you risk them losing all the context they built up over the past X days and will need to recover that once the freeze is over. Two solutions come to mind. First, have each dev spend as much time as they need to document their current state so that they can jump right back in once the freeze is over. Or second, everyone keeps coding until finished with their current thing and then they don't do any further coding until all PRs are merged.
My god... you need to write a book like the The Phoenix Project but like... you know. Your life haha.
Wow ok thats what I was looking for. The Kobayashi Maru style of everything in my life. But here we are now a fantastic community of people that self-regulate and have I think a genuine interest in learning and tech possibly.
My final question my good sir is what was the time frame with which you started and ended where you are now? This is only for reference.
Landlording by Leigh Robinson. Excellent and no-nonsense. Contains a lot of sample forms, checklists, and concepts you can use immediately.
​
Years ago I used to recommend the "BiggerPockets" stuff but honestly the signal-to-noise ratio there has gone way down - now there's a lot of "motivational" type content packed into their articles and podcasts and that honestly turns me off. I might be in the minority but content that's marketed as "educational" but spends a good deal of time on "motivating the reader / listener" always bothers me.
The Pheonix Project for some reading related to what its like working in a software org and the good and bad practices in it.
It’s on the sub’s booklist, but let me +1 The Goal. There’s a danger/tendency for folks starting out in CI to fall in love with tools. Process maps, SIPOCs, whatever, early career practitioners conflate the tools with the work. The Goal focuses on the concepts, not the tools, and helps you develop a CI perspective that carries regardless of which tool is getting used. This is important, because you need to fit the tools to the problem, not approach every problem the same way.
Absolutely read The Phoenix Project. It will describe half the projects you inherit over your career and tell you exactly how they need to be put back on the rails. Also it's just a great read.
As others have said... DevOps really isn't "Developer and Operations". It denotes a philisophy. I highly recommend you read The Phoenix Project if you haven't yet to get an better understanding of just what DevOps means and can offer.
Also, having been an DevOps for the last 22 years (yes, since before it had the name) I can tell you I have done my fair share of programming... however, the last 5-6 years or so I do a lot less, and this is the way this industry is going. There are amazing tools and frameworks that do most of our job now (eg: Kubernetes, Terraform, Cloud Providers Managed Services, etc). With these tools, good DevOps practitioners don't need to code, we just configure various json/yaml files and let frameworks and tools do all the magic. The most programming I do these days is random open-source projects and the occasional script for whatever CI/CD framework I'm currently using.
I recommend reading the book Accelerate (Amazon Link). It will teach you the kinds of thinking to head for. It's not a specific sets of technology book, rather it's about DevOps ideas and the problems and solutions that have been distilled. Reading it will give you lots of understanding as to where each piece of technology you encounter fits in, and how it solves people's problems. This should pardon the pun, accelerate your career, as you'll be able to partake in many more design level discussions.
I was going to suggest a copy of this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/0988262592 as it's a fun book but also educational getting into a programming career... Jeez though... Not worth £35!! There must be some cheaper places for it
So, to clarify, your main purpose in learning linux is to learn the operations side so you can manage your webapps yourself?
I think you'll be a bit disappointed.
RHCSA/RHCE certification material will cover the fundamentals you will need to know, but not the methodology which is what will spin your wheels the most.
It is not linux related, but you may find value in the considerations covered in the second volume of the Limoncelli books.
If you really want to shine in interviews I'd recommend reading the books "Accelerate" and "The Nature of Software Development". Those books really sum up how to build software in a modern web world.
Remember you’re supposed to know the product side, not do the engineering.
Try reading the Phoenix Project and the Unicorn Project by the same author.
Con respecto a lo primero, Google Cloud funciona casi como una Startup (a otra escala por supuesto). Por lo tanto, muy poca burocracia, muy horizontal la organización, dentro de lo posible.
Con respecto a lo segundo, hay varias formas de verlo. Google tiene muchos productos y creo que 9 de ellos tienen más de mil millones (1 billion) de usuarios. Cuando se está en esa situación, es necesario priorizar recursos que siempre, incluso en Google, son escasos. También hay decisiones estratégicas que determinan en qué se quiere invertir y en qué no. Este tipo de consideraciones determina, al menos en algunos casos, en qué productos Google decide o no invertir a futuro.
Aparte de eso, Google tiene una cultura de apostar por grandes cosas (10X thinking) y por fallar seguido, aprender y seguir adelante. Si sabes lo que DevOps es como cultura organizacional, es algo así. Te recomiendo leer The Phoenix Project si te interesan esos temas.
The "Accelerate" book goes into this. I don't have it on hand here so I can't give you the sources I'm afraid.
I think the squeaky wheel phenomenon is in effect. Fanatec shifts volume well above pretty much every other DD manufacturer, and so by sheer numbers will inevitably have more faulty products than their competitors (I would bet on it being more combined!). They went from a big boutique manufacturer to nibbling at the edges of Thrustmaster and Logitech numbers in a very short space of time, and I think the combination of pandemic and a bit of complacency/naiveté on their part in insufficiently scaling up their aftersales support has well and truly caught them short. Just look at how overstretched they are - they are sold out for months on their most popular products.
But hopefully they'll get their arms around the problem. I've been lucky with my gear so far, but I'd like to know they'll sort out their customer service if I'm ever unlucky enough to have a part failure.
But it is weird to see people betting big on new entrant to market Shenzen manufacturers with more than a whiff of IP infringement about them as some sorts of saviours. I guess we'll see how resilient they are as the excess unsatisfied demand for CSL DD's keeps spilling over. I won't say much other than https://www.amazon.com/Poorly-Made-China-Insiders-Production/dp/0470928077 is a really good read