This book is a journey—and for me, it’s one I wish I had fully embraced much earlier. I first read The Phoenix Projectyears ago, right after picking it up at the book launch during RSA. At the time, I enjoyed it but didn’t quite absorb its lessons. Fast forward eight years, a ransomware incident, and a significant shift in my role at work, and the book has taken on a completely different meaning.
Reading it now, alongside my team, was an eye-opener. After our “never again” moment, this book became a blueprint for how we think about processes, communication, and priorities. It’s funny; my team has even started calling me Brent, and they’re not wrong. Like Brent, I’ve often found myself as the bottleneck, unintentionally holding back progress while trying to do it all.
The narrative style of this book makes it surprisingly relatable. Bill’s struggles at Parts Unlimited—managing chaotic projects, navigating office politics, and dealing with unrealistic expectations—felt eerily familiar. Gene Kim and his co-authors weave practical lessons about DevOps and IT management into a story that’s engaging and, at times, uncomfortably accurate.
The ideas around The Three Ways and treating IT like a manufacturing process hit home. It reframed how I think about workflows and resource constraints, and it’s been invaluable in structuring our team meetings. We even paired it with The Unicorn Project to dive deeper into DevOps principles.
This book isn’t just for IT professionals; it’s for anyone looking to align technology with business goals. It’s about breaking down silos, improving communication, and getting the right work done at the right time. I may not have claimed it on my CPEs, but I can confidently say it’s helped me grow as a leader and as a thinker.
If you’re in IT—or ever wondered why IT teams struggle to keep up with demand—this is a must-read. For me, it’s not just a novel. It’s a reminder of where I’ve been, how far I’ve come, and where we’re headed.