Controlling Wildfires While Only Getting Singed.
summary
Start by agreeing a glossary and map the domain from users and stakeholders to avoid costly misunderstandings, then inventory components, docs and tests (README, Swagger, Postman). Prioritise a visible “poop list” of reactive incidents versus proactive fixes (security, Python upgrade for end‑of‑support), put in basic monitoring and metrics, and add end-to-end tests first, automate manual tests and run on‑call to learn the quirks. Use SLIs/SLOs/SLAs and JIRA epics to show customer impact; incidents shrink and proactive work grows.
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chapters (24)
- 0:00Intro
- 1:42The Battle Plan Get an overview Prioritise Measure Communicate Be ready for failure
- 3:37Start on the same page
- 4:06Understanding Domain
- 8:20Reactive Work
- 9:36Have a visible business impact
- 11:26Living Documentation
- 12:51Documentation as measurable work?
- 13:27Proactive Work
- 14:38Security Deadlines Stability Architectural Cost Alignment To Product Need Standardisation Upcoming Technical Requirements
- 17:15Prioritising when everything is urgent
- 17:53Letting things burn
- 18:37Transparency
- 19:35Cost/Benefit Analysis
- 20:56Deployment
- 23:06Key Performance Indicators
- 23:46Systems Monitoring
- 24:47Service Level Indicators, Service Level Objectives And Service Level Agreements
- 26:58Testing
- 27:26Start from the top
- 28:41Are current tests automated or manual? • Do the tests match the expected behaviour? • Do they match the code? • Are they maintainable? • What's the lightest most effective touch?
- 30:54But what about the unit tests?
- 35:51You can't fix the world
- 36:43Resources
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