The Phoenix Project Book Summary

In "The Phoenix Project," chaos reigns at Parts Unlimited, a car manufacturer struggling to keep up with a rapidly changing tech landscape. When IT manager Bill Palmer is unexpectedly thrust into a project vital for the company's survival, he discovers the interconnected challenges of people, processes, and technology. As he navigates through daily crises and corporate politics, Bill learns the transformative power of DevOps principles. Can he turn the company around before it's too late? This compelling tale blends fiction with valuable lessons, making it a must-read for anyone facing modern business challenges.

By Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford

Published: 2018

"Never be afraid to ask questions. It’s a sign of strength, not weakness."

Book Review of The Phoenix Project

Over a half-million sold! And available now, the Wall Street Journal Bestselling sequel The Unicorn Project “Every person involved in a failed IT project should be forced to read this book.”—TIM O'REILLY, Founder & CEO of O'Reilly Media “The Phoenix Project is a must read for business and IT executives who are struggling with the growing complexity of IT.”—JIM WHITEHURST, President and CEO, Red Hat, Inc. Five years after this sleeper hit took on the world of IT and flipped it on it's head, the 5th Anniversary Edition of The Phoenix Project continues to guide IT in the DevOps revolution. In this newly updated and expanded edition of the bestselling The Phoenix Project, co-author Gene Kim includes a new afterword and a deeper delve into the Three Ways as described in The DevOps Handbook. Bill, an IT manager at Parts Unlimited, has been tasked with taking on a project critical to the future of the business, code named Phoenix Project. But the project is massively over budget and behind schedule. The CEO demands Bill must fix the mess in ninety days or else Bill's entire department will be outsourced. With the help of a prospective board member and his mysterious philosophy of The Three Ways, Bill starts to see that IT work has more in common with a manufacturing plant work than he ever imagined. With the clock ticking, Bill must organize work flow streamline interdepartmental communications, and effectively serve the other business functions at Parts Unlimited. In a fast-paced and entertaining style, three luminaries of the DevOps movement deliver a story that anyone who works in IT will recognize. Readers will not only learn how to improve their own IT organizations, they'll never view IT the same way again. “This book is a gripping read that captures brilliantly the dilemmas that face companies which depend on IT, and offers real-world solutions.”—JEZ HUMBLE, Co-author of Continuous Delivery, Lean Enterprise, Accelerate, and The DevOps Handbook

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Never be afraid to ask questions. It’s a sign of strength, not weakness.

The Phoenix Project

By Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford