[bravetraveler]

I wear the DevOps hat a bit with SRE. Typically I look for things that take a lot of time and refine/automate. Rinse and repeat.

I specifically go for things that seem guarded. Stuff people do that seems to be job security. Exists 'only' to keep them employed.

Not with any animosity, mind you. There are usually tendrils to that kind of stuff. It's usually important work but perhaps the specifics need updating.

For instance: while "Bob" does the same he always does, there may be a group of new people wondering why it existed this way. He may just need help getting out from under it.

Perhaps the work can be saved instead of repeated, the new folks can take it on, or they obsolete it entirely. Processes are funny like that.

This spills into meetings a lot. Convincing people to do the obviously good thing, defending reason, etc. It's not just writing Ansible/Python (our tools of choice) as much as I'd prefer that.

Overall the goal is to be a force multiplier without rustling too many feathers

[hnthrowaway0328]

One thing though is that some people might want to do some shadow DevOps for fun. I'd definitely be angry if someone takes away a chance to write some automation code from me because they want to centralize everything. Part of the reason I left one of my previous companies.

My recommendation, if that happens, is to give best practices to that person and make sure he rewrites the code properly.

[bravetraveler]

Good point! I try to avoid making anyone feel like I'm stealing the show, or even criticizing. Given the position of the thing, I can usually make a case for how improving it would be good for everyone.

I don't start actual work until everyone involved is aware/agrees - lest my actions be for naught. Maybe I'm missing important context. Checking in, amicably, is important.

We can do this stuff in the shadows, that's fine. I just want the day to be better for everyone.