Now that we've discussed why InnerSource benefits an organization, it's time to discuss how InnerSource can be adopted. When tackling this question, we've found that it helps to look at your organization with three different lenses.
Our first lens is culture. Think of this as a view from 35,000 feet. An overall big picture of your organization.
!> Important Discussion Questions:
- How does it look?
- If someone outside of your organization had this view, what would they think?
- How receptive is your organization, culturally, to an InnerSource way of working?
Our second lens is developer enablement. This is the view from the ground, the first-person point of view on how things look in your organization.
!> Important Discussion Questions:
- How does if look from this perspective?
- What tools and tactics are available that enable and empower your developers
- If you were to ask a random set of developers within your organization how enabled they feel to work with other teams, what do you think they would say?
Our third view is governance. Think of this as air traffic control that governs the aircrafts in the sky and the personal on the ground. This is the leadership team within the organization.
!> Important Discussion Questions:
- Are there ensuring guiding principles, roles, and processes in place to foster an InnerSource environment?
- Does the developer community within your organization get the support it needs?
Purpose: Identify areas of improvement and celebrating success within the lenses. (Time: ~30 minutes)
Group preparation: (Time: ~10 minutes)
- Separate into small groups and decide which of these 3 lenses needs the most improvement within your organization.
- Within that lens, identify specific issues, bottlenecks, disconnects, or any other areas of improvement.
- Identify the lens you think your organization does well and list specific reasons why.
Present: (Time: ~20 minutes)
- Take turns sharing with the collective group and discuss similarities and differences.