Slight Reliability

Send us Fan MailThis week I repurpose a talk I just did at the JuniorDev meetup in Auckland. If you're new to SRE or observability then this is the talk for you. For the more seasoned listeners, it's a chance to see how my perspective and understanding has changed over the years.In the episode I refer to the This Is Fine! podcast on resilience engineering: https://www.thisisfinepod.com/You can read the Google SRE books for free online here: https://sre.google/books/You can buy Slight Reliability merch here (Note: you cannot order the mugs outside of New Zealand):https://slightreliability.digitees.co.nz/You can find Stephen on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre

Send us Fan MailHow do you ingest and store petabytes of telemetry every day in a cost effective and high performing way? How can you do this in a way which gives engineers the operational data they need to keep services running? How has this challenge be tackled in the past and what's been the evolution?This week I'm joined by Observe co-founder Jacob Leverich to go deep into this topic. We discuss...💾 A deep-dive into the evolution of telemetry storage and where it's going💽 The advent of generic storage that handles metrics, logs, and traces well🫶 Having empathy for people who need great observability but struggle to obtain it🤲 Not holding telemetry data hostage✍️ Lessons from 8 years of running a start-up...and much more.You can find Jacob on...LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-leverich/And find out more about Observe here:https://www.observeinc.com/In the episode Jacob referred to Google's Dremel analysis platform: https://research.google/pubs/dremel-interactive-analysis-of-web-scale-datasets-2/And Apache Iceberg: https://iceberg.apache.org/You can buy Slight Reliability merch here (Note: you cannot order the mugs outside of New Zealand):https://slightreliability.digitees.co.nz/You can find Stephen on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre

Send us Fan MailHow do you take all the utopian ideas you read about in books and apply them to the reality of the organisations we work in?This week I'm joined by leader, mentor, and coach Rob Roe to tackle this question. We discuss...🌪️ The pitfalls of functional silos🤫 Is the annual budget a load of rubbish?🍃 How our management promotion systems are often broken🫂 The power of virtual teams📗 Team interaction models...and much more.You can find Rob on...LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinsonroe/References from the episode:Rob's YouTube channel "Unlocking Change": https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingchangeAction Inquiry by Bill Torbert: https://gla.global/the-glp/action-inquiry/Seven Transformations of Leadership: https://hbr.org/2005/04/seven-transformations-of-leadershipTrademe Team Topologies case study: https://teamtopologies.com/industry-examples/trade-me-journey-towards-a-thinnest-viable-platformYou can buy Slight Reliability merch here (Note: you cannot order the mugs outside of New Zealand):https://slightreliability.digitees.co.nz/You can find Stephen on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre

Send us Fan MailWe spend a third of our life at work. It needs to be something we enjoy and something with purpose. Our work experience also impacts our family, friends, and our personal lives.This week I'm joined by tech engineer, leader, and author Richard Bown to explore this and many other topics including...🌪️ The difficulty in applying the ideas we read in books in real organisations🤫 When you want to implement a thing you can't talk directly about the thing🍃 Does change require senior leadership? Can it be grassroots?🫂 The importance of looking after yourself at work📗 The experience of publishing a novel...and much more.You can find Richard's book "Human Software - A Life in I.T" here: https://humansoftwarebook.com/...and you can find Richard on...LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-bown/References from the episode (excluding some of the TV shows we mentioned):Rosegarden Linux music composition editing environment: https://www.rosegardenmusic.com/Managing Humans by Michael Lopp: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/managing-humans-biting/9781430243144/Rands leadership Slack: https://randsinrepose.com/welcome-to-rands-leadership-slack/The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/113934.The_GoalLocal Hero (1983): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859/Turn the Ship Around! by David Marquet: https://davidmarquet.com/books/turn-the-ship-around-book/Scrivener (book writing tool): https://scrivener.app/You can buy Slight Reliability merch here (Note: you cannot order the mugs outside of New Zealand):https://slightreliability.digitees.co.nz/You can find Stephen on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre

Send us Fan MailWhen you become a people leader there is no manual. How can we not only learn leadership skills but practice them and build leadership muscle?This week I'm joined by Orion Group Limited co-founder Xiao Zhang to discuss...👑 The challenge of transitioning into people leadership💪 How we don't get fit by watching other people work out⌚ Pausing as an act of active leadership🌌 The power of slack time for creativity and systems thinking🌊 Going below the waterline...and much more.You can find Xiao on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xiao-zhang-nz/You can find Orion Group Limited here: https://www.oriongrouplimited.com/Xiao mentioned Brené Brown's new book Strong Ground https://brenebrown.com/book/strong-ground/I mentioned The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr and George Spafford https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/I couldn't find the article on slack time but this is pretty good: https://buildrightside.com/problem-upgrade-chartYou can buy Slight Reliability merch here (Note: you cannot order the mugs outside of New Zealand):https://slightreliability.digitees.co.nz/You can find Stephen on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre

Send us Fan MailThis week I kick off the 2026 season with some news and we explore how to prepare for a new role.You can buy Slight Reliability merch here (Note: you cannot order the mugs outside of New Zealand):https://slightreliability.digitees.co.nz/You can find Stephen on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre

Send us Fan MailFrom the day we invented computers we've been struggling to keep applications running and delivering services to the business. Is this latest wave of AI helping or hurting us?This week I'm joined by Causely founder Shmuel Kliger to dive into...🌊 The three waves of AI hype over the decades (the history of AI)☠️ The dangers of over-promising and under-delivering what AI can do🧠 What is causal reasoning?😱 Is AI replacing SREs?🔮 AI as a way to allow humans to solve higher level problems...and much more.You can find Shmuel on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shmuel-kliger-1a91963/You can find Causely here: https://www.causely.ai/Shmuel mentioned 'The Book of Why' by Judea Pearl and Dana McKenzie which can be found here: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/046509760XYou can buy Slight Reliability merch here (Note: you cannot order the mugs outside of New Zealand):https://slightreliability.digitees.co.nz/You can find Stephen on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre

Send us Fan MailWhat is operational intelligence and how is it different from observability or BI?This week I'm joined by SquaredUp's VP of Innovation Adam Kinniburgh to answer that question and many more including...❓ What is operational intelligence?🙈 Relating observability back to customer, business, or revenue😎 The value of giving stakeholders confidence🌉 Who bridges the gap between tech and business or engineers and leadership?🦋 Correlation VS causation and our innate desire to build connections...and much more.You can find Adam on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkinniburgh/...and the Operationally Intelligent podcast here:https://squaredup.com/operationally-intelligent/You can find the Slight Reliability merch store here:https://slightreliability.digitees.co.nz/You can find Stephen on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre

Send us Fan MailHow does leading platform teams differ from leading product teams?This week I'm joined by experienced technology leader Dinesh Sukhija to answer that question and many more including...❓ What is a platform team?⚽ Coaching engineers to focus on outcomes☀️ Connecting platform initiatives to business goals✋ Identifying the limiters in your team🎤 Spreading knowledge and avoiding single points of failure...and much more.You can find Dinesh on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-sukhija/You can find Stephen on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre

Send us Fan MailHow has my first two years as a manager in tech been? What have I learned? What do I need to work on?This week I share my experiences over the past couple of years. I cover:🔥 My recent close call with burnout🫶 How I attempted to build a team culture💪 The importance of tough conversations🥱 How roles and responsibilities might be boring to think about but is critical❓ What's next?...and much more.You can find me on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephentownshend/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/slightreliability.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SlightReliabilityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slight_reliability/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_kiwi_sre