Youve probably heard of gene kim, kevin behr and george spafford before. I got stuck at home with a dreadful cough and sinus dysfunction this last week. The phoenix project is a novel about it management. The companys major project, code named phoenix project, is critical to the future of parts. Devops is the application of lean manufacturing methods, architecture. The phoenix program, assassinating suspected vc sympathizers in a systematic manner, worked well during the vietnam war and is the blueprint for the current black op targeting thousands of loyal americans using state of the art microwave mw and radio frequency radiation rfr weapons. Exhaustive detail and extensive use of interviews with and writings by phoenix participants make up the book s principal strengths.
I really wanted to try to have another run at understanding eriks examples from the theory of constraints side of things. These include novels, short stories, graphic novels and comic books. Brown later editor of soldier of fortune magazine worked with james k. John prados, author of presidents secret warsthis definitive account of the phoenix program, the us attempt to destroy the viet cong through torture and summary execution, remains sobering reading for all those trying to understand the vietnam war and the moral ambiguities of americas cold war. The program was designed to identify and destroy the viet cong via infiltration, torture, capture, counterterrorism, interrogation, and assassination.
I wrote this story about the phoenix program in honor of the forthcoming publication of vietnam labyrinth by tran ngoc chau. So after growing tired of repeated references to the phoenix project i decided to try and read it. It borrows a similar format as patrick lencionis 5 dysfunctions of a team where the strategies and learnings are based in a story of a struggling technical company. A novel about it, devops, and helping your business win was quite a hard one to pick up for me personally. Where wes is loud, outspoken and shoots from the hip, patty is thoughtful, analytical, and a stickler for processes and procedures. The phoenix project is an allegorical tale of devopsthe needs, the transition, and the business impactas told through the main character, bill palmer, who has recently been named vp of it operations, much against his will. Project phoenix seti or phoenix project, a search for extraterrestrial intelligence in radio signal patterns. The phoenix project film, a 2015 film directed by tyler graham pavey. The cias counterinsurgency in vietnam was brutal and. Where wes is large, combative, and some times even quarrelsome, patty is elfin, logical, and levelheaded. The personalities, politics and espionage intrigues that shaped the dea. The state of technologymanagement books might have been different five years ago, but i found the overthetop nature insulting to the intelligence of the intended demographic. Jez humble, coauthor of the jolt awardwinning book continuous delivery and principal at thoughtworks studios this book is the modern day version of the goal. Summary of the phoenix project goodreads share book.
The phoenix project pdf summary gene kim 12min blog. If you want something that is a bit more computer related, you could choose to read the phoenix project, which is like the goal, but the story is about it instead of. The phoenix project will have a profound effect on it, just as dr. A novel about it, devops, and helping your business win written by gene kim, kevin behr, and george spafford gives you great insights how to improve the success rate of your it organization by transforming your organisation in a devops like organisation to deliver much faster more than 10 deployments. How to handle brent in the phoenix project ag blog. To end this competition, colby decided on arrival to unify all covert cia operations programs in south vietnam under the name of phoenix. The phoenix project is a novel that first describes the problems that almost every it organization is faced with, and then shows the practices of how to solve the problems, improves the. The hotel tacloban, the phoenix program, the strength of the wolf.
Opinion behind the phoenix program the new york times. The phoenix, legendary animal that comes to symbolize what rises from the ashes. As soon as i started evaluating the phoenix project in the context of a business book, rather than fiction, i started enjoying it a lot more, gaining much more insight into the concepts presented, rather than focusing on the unsophisticated prose and highly contrived. Writing a fictional account is a powerful effective way to get the message across, used by others such as ely goldratt with the goal. Phoenix project pentagon, a part of the pentagon renovation program. The cias phoenix assassination program lewrockwell.
The cia described it as a set of programs that sought to attack and destroy the political infrastructure of the viet cong. A novel about it, devops, and helping your business win book online at best prices in india on. This list is comprised of some of the most recognizable names from fictional books. The phoenix program in vietnam schiffer book for collectors ret. Since 2014, he has been the founder and organizer of devops enterprise summit, studying the technology transformations of large, complex organizations. The phoenix program would become one of the most controversial aspects of americas war in vietnam. Covert paramilitary operations by the cia in vietnam began early in the sixties, but it was not until 1965, that the u. The phoenix project is a business book masquerading as a work of fiction. Kevin behr is chief science officer and general manager of praxis flow and founder of the information technology process institute. This parable of an it project on the brink of destruction is told with humor and insight. The phoenix project can anyone point to a good synopsis. They are the three amigos responsible for the visible ops handbook, which can be found in the book pile of every good it. He is the author of six books, the unicorn project 2019, and coauthor of the shingo publication award winning accelerate 2018, the devops handbook 2016, and the phoenix project 20. The book is very approachable because its written as a novel.
The phoenix project uses a contrived narrative to deliver it best practices like a mother would use applesauce to hide peas while spoonfeeding a toddler. Intelligence coordination and exploitation icex, now better known as the phoenix program, was one of the american militarys most closely guarded operations of the vietnam war. The phoenix project is an importantenough book to warrant taking the time to discuss what those problems are. The phoenix project by gene kim, kevin behr, george spafford get the phoenix project now with oreilly online learning. Phoenix was the grotesque brainchild of william colby and may have resulted in the elimination, to use colby anaseptic phrase, more than 40,000 south vietnamese civilians, suspected by the. In vietnam the company developed icex aka phoenix as an intensive corporate management and public relations campaign for what is called nationbuilding. Macv through civil operations and revolutionary development. But phoenix went far beyond aspirations of winning in vietnam. The secret history of americas war on drugs, and the strength of the pack. Jez humble, coauthor of the jolt awardwinning book continuous delivery and principal at thoughtworks studios this book is. While as a work of history the phoenix program is one of the most important books ever written on the cia and the military, on the birth of us counterterror policy, and government sponsored. In 1967 the cias far east division of clandestine services developed a program that came to be known as phoenix.
Apart from the main characters our hero bill, his boss steve, and the evil villain sarah the phoenix project features a delightful rogues gallery which anyone working in an enterprise will recognize. This is a good complement to dale andrades less emotional ashes to ashes lexington, 1990 and such participant accounts as orrin m. He is the author of the novel tdy, and a book of poems, a crows dream. The program utilized a by any means necessary strategy to warfare that included the use of random assassination and the fabrication of enemy atrocities in order to rally the civilian population around u. The unicorn project by gene kim author of the phoenix. The phoenix program was a program designed and coordinated by the united states central intelligence agency during the vietnam war, involving cooperation between american, south vietnamese and australian militaries. The untold story of the 2008 financial crisis full vice special report hbo duration. During the latter years of the vietnam war, approximately 19671973, the central intelligence agency cia undertook a project without the awareness of the american public.
The phoenix program is arguably the most misunderstood and controversial program undertaken by the governments of the united states and south vietnam during the vietnam war, according to a retrospective of the phoenix program by retired marine colonel andrew r. The phoenix project ebook by gene kim 9780988262584. The phoenix program was a program designed, coordinated, and executed by the united states central intelligence agency cia, united states special operations forces, special forces operatives from the australian army training team vietnam aattv,1 and the republic of vietnam s south vietnam security apparatus during the vietnam war. Shifting from oil to hydrogen, a book by harry braun. The phoenix program is a grim history of one of the darkest episodes of the vietnam war, the cias civilian torture and assassination program called phoenix. Between 1957 and 1972, the vietcong crippled the administration of the south vietnam saigon government by the systematic murder of an estimated 36,752 appointed village chiefs and other officials. And gene, kevin and george are some of the nicest guys in it. It was necessary to unite the efforts of the cia, the fas of the u. This books should be mandatory reading for anyone involved in managing it work. The phoenix project is very realistic, with an entertaining cast of characters that many cios will recognizeincluding sarah, the svp of operations, who wants phoenix available asap even if its not ready perfection is the enemy of the good. As a result i spent some time rereading the phoenix project. Gene kim is an author, a researcher and an awardwinning chief technology officer. The phoenix project is a business allegory about how a fictional company becomes profitable after a crisisdriven change in its information technology management style.
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