Humane On-Call Strategies

References for the Humane On-Call Strategies talk

• some very important thanks and acknowledgments
• here's a more general reading list I was compiling around the same time as writing this talk
• see this link for the slides used for this talk

other talks

• DOES19 London, Monoliths vs Microservices is Missing the Point - Start with Team Cognitive Load
  • Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais
  • https://youtu.be/haejb5rzKsM

I was reminded of Daniel Terhorst-North's advice to design software that fits in your head when watching this talk, which led me to further realizations about the value of boring and simplicity in other domains. The Team Topologies book is good, too.

links

• "Blameless" postmortems don't work. Here's what does.
  • J. Paul Reed
  • https://techbeacon.com/app-dev-testing/blameless-postmortems-dont-work-heres-what-does

J. Paul Reed is a wonderful human who's done amazing work in this space, and if you like things in this talk it's likely they were inspired at least in part by him.

• The Blameless Postmortem
  • PagerDuty Staff
  • https://postmortems.pagerduty.com/culture/blameless/

Why PD is still using "postmortem" in 2021 I can barely fathom, I never really liked that language. SEO makes us do weird things I guess. Put it in an invisible footer or something, y'all.

• Crafting Sustainable On-Call Rotations
  • Ryn Daniels
  • https://increment.com/on-call/crafting-sustainable-on-call-rotations/

Reviewing this for the first time in a while, I realize how much this article rang true with me. When I was writing about the disproportionate impact of this work on folks who hold less privilege, I'm only echoing what was written here years earlier.

• The On-Call Handbook
  • Alice Goldfuss
  • https://github.com/alicegoldfuss/oncall-handbook

Alice and contributors have put together a great set of tips and tricks for getting through on-call work. Read it! Contribute!

• Reading Postmortems
  • Dan Luu
  • https://danluu.com/postmortem-lessons/

I could credit more than this particular article, but when thinking about this talk I've come back to this article more than the rest.

books

• Accelerate
  • Nicole Forsgren, PhD, Jez Humble, Gene Kim
  • https://itrevolution.com/accelerate-book/

Accelerate should be required reading for anyone building or operating technology services. The concepts discussed within are foundational to the practice of modern service delivery.

• Modern System Administration
  • Jennifer Davis,
  • https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/modern-system-administration/9781492055204/

It might not be fair that I'm adding this when it hasn't been finished yet and I haven't read what's up on O'Reilly preview, but I am certain that I recommend it and that there will be relevant and useful information in there.

• Team Topologies
  • Matthew Skelton, Manuel Pais
  • https://itrevolution.com/book/team-topologies/

TODO: blurb

random associated stuff

• Hyperbole and a Half, The Alot
  • Allie Brosh
  • http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

You probably already know about Allie's work but it's always a good idea to check just in case you missed something because it's wonderful.