18F/18f.gsa.gov

---
title: "Turning learning up to 11"
date: 2015-12-30
authors:
- mbland
tags:
- how we work
- best practices
- communication tools and practices
- video
excerpt: "The feature that distinguishes high-performing organizations across all
industries is their ability to facilitate knowledge sharing across the
entire organization. This is the first post in a series about the  tools and processes we use at 18F to facilitate knowledges sharing."
description: "The feature that distinguishes high-performing organizations across all
industries is their ability to facilitate knowledge sharing across the
entire organization. This is the first post in a series about the  tools and processes we use at 18F to facilitate knowledges sharing."
image: /assets/blog/turn-up-to-11/turn-up-to-11.jpg
hero: false
---

[![A screenshot from the movie Spinal Tap showing a guitar amp dial that goes up to 11]({{ site.baseurl }}/assets/blog/turn-up-to-11/turn-up-to-11.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven)

The feature that distinguishes high-performing organizations across all industries is their ability to facilitate knowledge sharing across the entire organization. Organizations that then put this knowledge to use to improve how they work have a sustained competitive advantage. Accomplishing this requires a combination of values, processes, and tools.

I recently had the honor of being invited to speak at the [DevOps Enterprise Summit 2015](http://devopsenterprise.io/). My talk, [“Pain Is Over, If You Want It”](http://devopsenterprise.io/sessions/pain-is-over-if-you-want-it/), was a condensed version of [my previous “Google and the Government” talks](https://18f.gsa.gov/2014/12/11/large-scale-development-culture-change/) with up-to-date information about how the principles outlined in that talk have played out so far at 18F. Though the talk was not concerned with the DevOps movement specifically, the core concepts of knowledge sharing, connecting and empowering people, and instigating cultural transformation were directly relevant, and echoed throughout every other presentation at the conference.

You can view the video of my DOES15 presentation below, as well as review [the slides for the talk](https://goo.gl/CrCUii).

{{ "https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ahtihwxgriA" | embed: "Mike Bland: Pain is over, if you want it" }}

Throughout my presentation, I drove home the importance of transparency, autonomy, and collaboration as critical factors in bringing about organizational culture change, and tied in all the work I and others have been doing at 18F to bolster each of these. Watch the video above to get an overview of these concepts, then check back for two more posts that will go into a little more detail about the tools and processes I mentioned in the presentation to provide a status update and a sense of future possibilities.