We’re now solidly into 2019. Commitments you made to yourself, your health, your productivity, your career, your budget, or whatever the case may be – they’re probably becoming harder to keep. This pattern of making resolutions, being on our best behavior for a while, falling off the wagon, returning to our ways, then starting the whole process over in the new year is all too familiar.
With 50 percent of digital transformation efforts stalled in 2018, you’ve likely experienced your own version of this at work, and are probably even somewhere in that cycle right now.
The thing is, commitment unlocks new potential. You often don’t get to the good stuff until you make that commitment – whether it’s committing to months of training and discipline, then experiencing the euphoria of completing your first marathon, or committing to your partner and building a life together.
In the software space, making that commitment can be the difference between paying lip service to DevOps transformation and actually realizing its promises. Making big changes, especially at an organizational level, is daunting. The trick is to commit to the process, not just to the goal. Focusing on the processes and behaviors that support the goal is key to success, so having a clear plan of attack rather than an abstract objective to achieve is what makes all the difference.
Here at GitLab, we committed to being all-remote – allowing us to hire the best people, no matter where in the world they might be or at what times they choose to work. We went all in on asynchronous communication, conscientiously documenting everything so we could collaborate across time zones and borders. We committed to a monthly release cycle, a decision which has seen us ship, to date, 88 consecutive new releases, allowing us to work with a short feedback loop and make small adjustments and iterations along the way. It was our commitment to the process, to having a single vision and steadily marching toward it, that enabled us to build a single application for the entire DevOps lifecycle with an all-remote team.
So this is what we’re asking you to do! Just commit. To software modernization. To faster cycle times. To secure apps. And because commitment is easier when you have a plan, and accountability, we’re here to support you on the journey. Over the coming weeks, we will be rolling out a series of blog posts and guides to help you make meaningful, lasting change in your organization. From tips and success stories on how to modernize your application architecture, to finally getting on top of technical debt, and building more secure applications, we’re working with our experts, customers, and community to help you along the way.
Obviously, commit has a double meaning for us. Git unlocked a whole new way to collaborate on software with the humble commit. Now, at GitLab, committing unlocks a whole lot more value – faster time to market, more secure code, more modern applications. We’re asking you to just commit to these. Are you up for the challenge?
#JustCommit
So, you're committing to starting something new this year. Hooray! 🎉 It's always easier to stick to something with a buddy – tell us your commitments by tweeting us @gitlab using #JustCommit, and we'll do our best to help (and enter you into our swag giveaway)! The giveaway lasts through April, but we want to keep you committing all year long.
