The Phoenix Project is a 2013 business novel by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford. Gene Kim is the former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Tripwire, and he describes himself as a researcher with a passion for high-performing technology. George Spafford is a Vice President (VP) Analyst at Gartner, focusing on DevOps, and he has written many articles and books on improving Information Technology (IT) services. Kevin Behr founded the Information Technology Process Institute, and he provides mentorship and consulting services to IT organizations to aid in boosting efficiency and effectiveness. All three authors are entrenched in IT and DevOps, allowing them to draw from personal experience, research, and expertise in crafting The Phoenix Project. The Phoenix Project is a business novel, a genre of fiction in which characters uncover critical business processes, techniques, and theories through the examples of the narrative. Though The Phoenix Project has not won any awards, it is highly regarded in the IT and DevOps fields as an impactful work outlining how to improve performance in these fields.

The novel follows Bill Palmer, who has just been promoted to VP of IT Operations at Parts Unlimited, a car parts manufacturer that is falling behind its competition. As Palmer struggles to integrate sound work practices into the IT department, he discovers themes of The Role of IT in Achieving Business Objectives, The Transformational Potential of DevOps Practices, and Overcoming Obstacles Within an Organization.

This guide uses the 2018 Kindle e-book third edition of the text.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of bullying, child abuse, suicidal ideation, mental illness, and gender and transgender discrimination.

Plot Summary

Bill Palmer goes to work in his role as Director of Midrange Operations at Parts Unlimited, a car parts manufacturer in dire straits. However, the CEO, Steve Masters, who recently transitioned out of being the board chair, convinces Palmer to take on a more involved role as VP of IT Operations. Palmer knows that people rarely last in the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and VP of IT roles, but he reluctantly agrees, knowing that his family needs money. Masters undervalues IT Operations, describing them like toilets, which should work without thought or attention. However, Masters’s main focus is on Project Phoenix, a new application that could help the company become competitive again. Masters tells Palmer to focus all his efforts on Phoenix. Palmer struggles to alert his coworkers and leaders of other departments of his promotion while simultaneously trying to handle a Storage Area Network (SAN) outage that knocked out their payroll processing system.

Palmer discovers that Brent, an engineer on Davis’s team, is involved in almost everything the IT department does. Palmer suspects that the key to resolving IT’s problems lies with Brent, whom he suspects also causes many of the issues they face. Dick Landry, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and effective Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Parts Unlimited, pressures Palmer to focus all his efforts on the payroll issue, leaving Phoenix as an afterthought during his first days in his new role. Palmer is conflicted, knowing that he needs to dedicate most of his resources to Phoenix, but he reluctantly allows Brent to work on the SAN outage.

Sarah Moulton, the Senior Vice President (SVP) of Retail Operations, gives Palmer harsh criticism for dividing his resources. Moulton blames IT entirely for the Phoenix delays, and Chris Allers, the VP of Application Development, claims that Development is almost done with Phoenix. The group agrees to release Phoenix in just over one week, despite Davis, McKee, and Palmer’s protests that they cannot achieve this goal. In addition to Phoenix and other outages, Palmer finds out that a preliminary SOX-404 internal audit revealed multiple weaknesses that need to be fixed. John Pesche, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), tries to force Palmer to take these issues seriously, but the IT team collectively dismisses Pesche as an annoyance. According to Palmer, Pesche constantly tries to insert security measures into IT Operations at critical times, disrupting their normal operations. Another issue arises, causing phones and point-of-sale (POS) systems to crash, and Palmer finds himself divided between Phoenix, Severity 1 outages, and the need for a response to the audit findings.

Palmer meets with McKee and Davis, and they work on improving the change process in IT Operations, which is the procedure by which workers suggest and execute changes in their various systems. They struggle to adapt to the overwhelming number of changes, but they know that unplanned and unprotected changes are a severe disruption, causing issues like the SAN outage. They start to work on refining a procedure that can fluidly move changes through the process without endangering other systems or demanding unreasonable effort from the workers making changes. In the wake of his struggles with changes, outages, and Phoenix, Palmer meets Erik Reid, a prospective board member, who presents him with esoteric wisdom on IT Operations. Reid outlines how Palmer and the other leadership at Parts Unlimited do not understand what work is, and he suggests that Palmer focus on figuring out what the different types of work are. He also helps Palmer understand how Brent is a constraint in IT, comparing him to a heat treat oven in MRP-8, a factory.

Palmer meets with Masters to explain his concerns, but Masters dismisses him, demanding that Palmer balance all the issues he faces while prioritizing Phoenix. The initial Phoenix release is a disaster. Following the planned release, Development, Quality Assurance (QA), IT, and Information Security spend all night struggling to keep Phoenix running. They find that the release also impacted stores’ POS systems, forcing store workers to operate manually. After the fact, Palmer tells Masters that he warned him about this outcome, but Moulton continues to pressure Masters, insisting that IT is not operating sufficiently. Palmer has entirely neglected the SOX-404 findings, causing Pesche to panic.

Over the following weeks, Palmer discovers the 4th type of work: unplanned work, and he begins the process, per the Theory of Constraints, of elevating and exploiting Brent as a constraint. However, Palmer is still buried in work, and his teams struggle to keep Phoenix and all other critical systems operational. Reid tells Palmer about the Three Ways, a theory of IT Operations and DevOps that focuses on understanding the flow of work through a business, amplifying feedback to improve quality, and fostering a culture of continual improvement. Palmer starts to see how the Three Ways can be used to identify the work that matters most to the company.

When another outage with Phoenix occurs, Masters tries to micromanage Palmer, and Palmer quits his job. McKee and Davis are upset with Palmer, but Masters tries to convince him to return to work. Masters gathers everyone for a meeting, where he reveals parts of his own perspective and tries to foster trust between the DevOps leaders. Pesche is late for the meeting, and he is struggling with his role in the company. Masters approves a project freeze, which should allow IT to catch up on both unplanned work, technical debt, and work in progress (WIP). Pesche disappears one day, calling Palmer late at night for drinks. Following his meeting with Palmer, Pesche completely changes his outlook, and he and Palmer start investigating how IT can make a difference at Parts Unlimited. Reid continues to teach Palmer about the Three Ways, explaining how, once the workflow is established, the next step is to speed up the process, allowing for more changes to be made faster.

Palmer begins Project Unicorn, a niche team of people from Development, QA, IT Operations, and Information Security, which works around Project Phoenix to enhance and experiment with features and methods. Unicorn fosters cooperation between the teams, and they quickly institute automation, integration of key elements of security and quality at the beginning of the development process, and rapid feedback for both themselves and other departments. Unicorn is a success, providing reports to Marketing which lead to a huge sale event following Thanksgiving. Reid explains how Unicorn is exploiting the Three Ways by amplifying feedback, and Masters is convinced that Unicorn can turn around the company’s struggles. Moulton tries to start a competing project, Project Talon, to try to split up the company, but she fails when Masters takes Palmer’s side.

Months later, Unicorn is not only successful on its own but also helps to improve Phoenix. Palmer notes that the Third Way, creating a culture of improvement, succeeded through efforts like Simian Army Chaos Monkey and Evil Chaos Monkey, which involved intentionally breaking systems to force improvement. Masters invites everyone to his home to celebrate, and he offers Palmer a unique promotion of two years’ training followed by a fast-track to the COO position. Palmer tentatively accepts, and Davis presents Palmer with a plaque representing their progress together. Reid congratulates Palmer, as well, and agrees to be Palmer’s mentor through his training. Reid also asks Palmer to write The DevOps Handbook for him, outlining the Three Ways for everyone.