Resilience Bites #9 - LinkedIn Rewind (week 14)
April 6th, 2025
Hi everyone,
Welcome to this week's LinkedIn roundup.
This week, we engage with topics ranging from the importance of absence as a signal to the false dichotomy of deployment rules.
I've discussed a few key concepts, including Sherlock Holmes' "Dogs Not Barking", the tension between high standards and adaptability, and why sometimes "turning it off and on again" contains hidden wisdom about complex system states.
Now, let's jump into this week's highlights!
The Linkedin Roundup
Absence is just as important and just as telling as presence
Have you heard the saying? "Dogs Not Barking"
The reference is to a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle called The Adventure Of Silver Blaze.
At one point, Inspector Gregory asks Holmes:
Gregory: Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?
Holmes: To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.
Gregory: The dog did nothing in the night-time.
Holmes: That was the curious incident
[…]
The teams with the highest standards often become the slowest to change.
I've seen this paradox many times over the years.
This tension between bias for action and high standards is one of the most challenging ones to deal with.
Here is what happens:
[…]
Continue reading on LinkedIn
Practice a lazy, unscientific approach to solving problems
"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"
We've all heard this one, and we've all rolled our eyes at it. It seems like such a lazy, unscientific approach to solving technical problems.
But there's actually wisdom hidden in this advice.
Computers and most systems have complex internal state, and many failures happen when they get stuck in states they weren't prepared to handle.
[…]
#ResilienceBites Newsletter - March edition monthly recap
In this March edition of #ResilienceBites, I've curated a selection of great discussions and findings related to resilience from this past month. And there is a lot of it this month!
I have also added a new section "Beyond Resilience: Worthy Reads" to account for great reads in related topics.
I hope you find this newsletter useful and that it inspires you to explore the world of resilience further.
Let me know any feedback and happy reading!
https://adhorn.me/posts/resilience-bites-issue8
Simple rules always fall short
"Never deploy on Friday" vs. "If you can't deploy on Friday, fix your system."
There was yet another debate on Linkedin this weekend around deploying, or not, on Fridays and it perfectly captures what is wrong with simple rules.
The truth is that it is a false dichotomy. Both camps miss crucial nuances and context.
[…]