Once your team has fully dug out from fire fighting, you have a new problem: you can do anything! It seems wrong to describe this as a problem, but my experience is that most infrastructure teams really struggle when they make the shift from the very clear focus created by emergencies to the oppressively broad opportunity that comes from escaping the tyranny of forced, short-term work.

Indeed, it’s my belief that most infrastructure teams spend so little time operating in a long-term, discretionary that they stumble when they encounter it. These stumbles often land them back into the warm, clarity-filled hell of firefighting.