The Unicorn Project: A Novel about Developers, Digital Disruption, and Thriving in the Age of Data

Gene Kim

Nov 2019 · IT Revolution

About this ebook

The Phoenix Project wowed over a half-million readers. Now comes the Wall Street Journal Bestselling Wall Street Journal bestselling The Unicorn Project!

“The Unicorn Project is amazing, and I loved it 100 times more than The Phoenix Project…”—FERNANDO CORNAGO, Senior Director Platform Engineering, Adidas

“Gene Kim does a masterful job of showing how … the efforts of many create lasting business advantages for all.”—DR. STEVEN SPEAR, author of The High-Velocity Edge, Sr. Lecturer at MIT, and principal of HVE LLC.

“The Unicorn Project is so clever, so good, so crazy enlightening!”––CORNELIA DAVIS, Vice President Of Technology at Pivotal Software, Inc., Author of Cloud Native Patterns

This highly anticipated follow-up to the bestselling title The Phoenix Project takes another look at Parts Unlimited, this time from the perspective of software development.

In The Unicorn Project, we follow Maxine, a senior lead developer and architect, as she is exiled to the Phoenix Project, to the horror of her friends and colleagues, as punishment for contributing to a payroll outage. She tries to survive in what feels like a heartless and uncaring bureaucracy and to work within a system where no one can get anything done without endless committees, paperwork, and approvals.

One day, she is approached by a ragtag bunch of misfits who say they want to overthrow the existing order, to liberate developers, to bring joy back to technology work, and to enable the business to win in a time of digital disruption. To her surprise, she finds herself drawn ever further into this movement, eventually becoming one of the leaders of the Rebellion, which puts her in the crosshairs of some familiar and very dangerous enemies.

The Age of Software is here, and another mass extinction event looms—this is a story about rebel developers and business leaders working together, racing against time to innovate, survive, and thrive in a time of unprecedented uncertainty...and opportunity.

“The Unicorn Project provides insanely useful insights on how to improve your technology business.”—DOMINICA DEGRANDIS, author of Making Work Visible and Director of Digital Transformation at Tasktop

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“My goal in writing The Unicorn Project was to explore and reveal the necessary but invisible structures required to make developers (and all engineers) productive, and reveal the devastating effects of technical debt and complexity. I hope this book can create common ground for technology and business leaders to leave the past behind, and co-create a better future together.”—Gene Kim, November 2019

Ratings and reviews

Compared to how I remember Phoenix Project, this book feels a bit rushed. For example, where the four types of work seemed like a well thought through concept, the five ideals are somewhat arbitrary. I am honestly a bit unsure what it really is this book wants to teach us. The part about core vs context was pretty good though.

The Unicorn Project is related to The Phoenix Project, they do share a background, environment, and a timeline, but they are uniquely different books. Like it's predecessor, I couldn't put down The Unicorn Project until I finished. I've worked in IT security since the early 90's, but coding never really excited me. I've done a lot of programming over the years because I had to, but it's never been my passion. I am invested in the the characters because they are following their passion and using the best tools they have available to solve real problems. I truly appreciate that The Unicorn Project delivers ideas and perspectives that we can apply at any organization with a willingness and desire to change and grow, I'm looking forward to integrating the lessons of both the Phoenix and Unicorn projects in my day to day adventures.

“Managers are not the most powerful individuals in the company; they are the most empowered ones.” Drive to thrive is a book which highlights the key points of a better management style and leadership. It is a very helpful book if you are a student in management or a manager who is looking for ways to improve your skills for smooth running of your team. Not just professional management this book is useful for those who are unable to express their idea to others in a proper way. Drive to Thrive is a self help book which empowers you, brings self confidence and gives a better and clear understanding of leadership and team management. It doesn’t matter if you are managing a five people team or a hundred people team, with the right skills and confidence you can come out in flying colors

About the author

Gene Kim is a multiple award-winning CTO, researcher and author, and has been studying high-performing technology organizations since 1999. He was founder and CTO of Tripwire for 13 years. He has written six books, including The Unicorn Project (2019), The Phoenix Project (2013), The DevOps Handbook (2016), the Shingo Publication Award-winning Accelerate (2018), and The Visible Ops Handbook (2004-2006) series. Since 2014, he has been the founder and organizer of the DevOps Enterprise Summit, studying the technology transformations of large, complex organizations.

In 2007, ComputerWorld added Gene to the “40 Innovative IT People to Watch Under the Age of 40” list, and he was named a Computer Science Outstanding Alumnus by Purdue University for achievement and leadership in the profession.

He lives in Portland, OR, with his wife and family.