What does DevOps have to do with saving the planet?
Hello dear readers, and happy 2024!
One of my intentions for the year is to share ideas I’m exploring with World Changing Business on Substack, so here I am.
In this article I partner with ChatGPT to explore a question that inspired me:
Can the operating model that revolutionised how software products are created and supported be what sustainability teams to scale?
Read on to learn more.
A call for change in Sustainability
“Now, more than ever, society is leaning on businesses to lead us through the climate and ecological crisis. At the same time the corporate world has never expressed more willingness to rise to this challenge. This offers cause for great optimism, but it also forces the recognition of a significant problem – corporate sustainability isn’t working and needs to dramatically change to solve the problems the world needs it to.”
Enough: A review of corporate sustainability in a world running out of time
In June 2022 a sassy group of sustainability experts at Ernst & Young published a report titled 'Enough: A review of corporate sustainability in a world running out of time.'
One would expect the report to be a dry evaluation of corporate social responsibility, but rather it was an inspiring call to arms to execs and in-house sustainability experts to drive the radical change needed to address climate change. A call to arms that made me think about the book 'The Phoenix Project'.
The lightbulb moment happened when I asked myself:
How can organisations transform their business models to be sustainable when the responsibility often falls on the shoulders of small teams of sustainability and climate risk experts?
The short answer is, they can’t without breaking down some walls.
The Phoenix Project
The Phoenix Project is a novel that explains the complexity of developing software, and the challenges faced when interdependent teams aren't working well together. I picked it up in 2017 about a year into my role as Product Owner at Xero and my mind was blown that the ways of working we had adopted in our team were ‘revolutionary’.
In the story, software development teams creating new software were unwittingly causing their Operations teams pain. The software teams were releasing unreliable code resulting in a different team (Operations) being woken up in the middle of the night to address issues that they didn’t create.
Now, this isn’t to say the software team in the story is all bad. They just weren’t thinking past releasing software, they didn’t realise what they were doing had negative consequences beyond their team.
This is similar to the challenge that in-house sustainability teams face. They have accountability for reducing carbon emissions, yet decisions from other teams can negatively impact that goal.
For example, a product team creates plastic packaging for a new physical product which sets back the sustainability goal to have 100% biodegradable packaging by 2025.
Both sustainability and operations teams face the common challenges of working with humans:
Resistance to change: Despite the obvious necessity for a change in practices, there is often resistance to major change within organisations.
Insufficient knowledge and understanding: There's often a lack of understanding or awareness and its importance which impedes progress.
Lack of resources: In many organisations, budgets and resources for initiatives may be limited.
Working in functional silos: Busy teams often lack the time to collaborate
Enter DevOps
The hero of the Phoenix Project, and of many operations teams, is a DevOps model.
DevOps, in essence, is a software development and delivery process that encourages collaboration between the traditionally siloed teams of software development and operations.
The DevOps model required a mindset shift for Operations teams to move from being ‘experts’ to ‘enablers’ that supports teams to take on new responsibilities by empowering them with the skills to make good decisions and specialist support when needed.
This mindset shift turns what was once a combative ‘us vs them’ relationship into a collaborative and empowering relationship that led to great results for the teams AND their business and customers in the Phoenix Project.
The thing is, it’s not just a story. The Phoenix Project is a narrative that explains a movement that is already successful, and we are seeing the Ops movement grow across different domains: ProductOps, DesignOps, SecOps.
So what about GreenOps?
With that, I leave you with a ChatGPT created parable of what a world with GreenOps could look like.
At this stage this is only an idea, I would love to know if there are any sustainability teams out there that have applied an approach like this or are interested in trying it out.
The Transition Project
In the heart of a bustling metropolis, within the towering walls of a mighty financial institution, a quiet revolution was taking place. The bank, like many other giants in the industry, had long been focused on profits, growth, and shareholder value. But within the corporate towers, a dedicated team of innovators was brewing a different kind of change.
Meet Sarah, a brilliant and passionate environmentalist with a dream. She had been with the bank for years, working in obscurity and silence, all the while nurturing her vision of empowering others within the organization to make sustainable decisions. She knew the world was changing, and the financial sector needed to adapt. But her ideas faced skepticism from traditionalists who saw sustainability as a 'soft' issue, unrelated to the bank's core operations.
Determined to turn her dream into a reality, Sarah gathered a small team of like-minded individuals. They called themselves 'The GreenOps Team,' and they shared a singular mission: to empower their colleagues to integrate sustainability into their daily decisions and actions.
Their journey began with education. They spent months studying and learning the intricate workings of the bank's vast operation, from data centers to loan processing, customer service to trading floors. Sarah knew that for sustainability to be successful, it had to align with and enhance the bank's business objectives.
After understanding the bank's processes, they formulated a sustainability strategy. But instead of enforcing a top-down approach, their strategy was to empower employees at all levels to take ownership of sustainability within their own domains. It wasn't about just reducing carbon footprints; it was about finding new opportunities and efficiencies. For instance, they realized that optimizing data centers could save energy costs, and that offering green financial products could attract ethically-minded investors.
To make this transformation possible, Sarah and her team adopted the principles of DevOps that had revolutionized the IT world. Just as DevOps sought to bridge the gap between development and operations, the GreenOps Team aimed to unite the financial and sustainability departments, forging a bond that could lead to profitable and sustainable innovations.
The GreenOps Team acted as change agents, facilitating collaboration between the different departments and teams. They provided tools and resources that made it easier for employees to incorporate sustainable practices into their work. They implemented automation tools to track and reduce waste, held regular 'Sustainability Sprints' to address immediate issues, and built a culture of continuous improvement.
With the help of the GreenOps Team, employees from all corners of the bank began to make sustainable decisions in their daily work. They reduced paper usage, optimized data centers, and sought sustainable sourcing for office supplies. The transformation was bottom-up, driven by the enthusiasm and commitment of employees themselves.
Soon, they started seeing tangible results. The bank was saving money, attracting new customers interested in eco-friendly investments, and even receiving recognition for its sustainability initiatives. The change wasn't imposed from the top down; it was an organic shift empowered by every individual in the organization.
The bank, once hesitant to embrace sustainability, was now leading the charge in the financial sector. They were not only profitable but also truly sustainable. The story of Sarah and the GreenOps Team serves as a testament to the power of empowering individuals across the organization to make sustainable decisions, proving that with the right strategies and a shared commitment, even a large, traditional institution could transform itself into a pioneer of sustainability.