Psychological safety plays a crucial role in the continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines in software development. It’s about fostering a culture where team members feel safe to take risks and make mistakes without fear of reprisal. This is vital in CI/CD, where fast, frequent releases and updates are the norm.
Progressive delivery is a method that can help instil this sense of safety. It’s about breaking down updates into smaller, manageable parts, allowing for easier rollback if things go wrong. It’s an approach that can reduce the risk of catastrophic failures and lessen the fear of making mistakes.
The implementation of feature flags is a key aspect of progressive delivery. These are essentially switches in the code that allow developers to turn features on or off without redeploying the whole application. This provides the ability to test new features in a controlled way before full-scale implementation, thereby reducing risk and increasing confidence.
The use of observability tools is another significant aspect. These provide real-time insight into system performance, enabling quick identification and rectification of issues. This further enhances the sense of safety, as it allows developers to spot and fix problems before they escalate.
In essence, psychological safety and progressive delivery are intertwined. When implemented effectively, they can create a more supportive, resilient, and effective software development environment.
Go to source article: https://redmonk.com/jgovernor/2022/03/22/fear-and-loathing-in-ci-cd-on-psychological-safety-and-progressive-delivery/