A majority of DevOps teams believe that building a learning culture is highly important. According to the DevOps Institute’s Upskilling 2021 Report, 70% of respondents viewed it as a top priority.
In order to build a successful learning culture, teams have to eliminate blaming and shaming its members when problems arise. The report found some of the biggest challenges standing in the way of innovation include aversion to risk-taking and proposing new ideas, and habits of seeing past failures and success.
It is crucial that problems are made visible so that others can learn from them and their solutions, the report explained.
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Respondents rated automation skills as the most important skill category, and human/soft skills as second most important.
According to the survey, the human skills needed for DevOps are evolving. In addition to skills like collaboration, problem solving, sharing, knowledge transfer and communication, skills like flexibility, adaptability and empathy are becoming key.
A good way for DevOps teams to enhancel technical skills is to prioritize certifications. Sixty-six percent of respondents said that certifications are extremely valuable.
“A successful DevOps journey (actually any journey) has the DNA of a learning organization, which means there is a commitment of continuous learning across all layers and players,” said Eveline Oehrlich, chief research and content officer at the DevOps Institute. “Team members have changed their mental models to look at different views working in a collective and collaborative team. For example, problems and mistakes are opportunities to learn. This ability to continuously learn enables individuals and teams to work better together across boundaries regardless of process, team or technology boundaries.”
