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RubyConf 2017: The overnight failure by Sebastian Sogamoso Close your eyes and imagine what is the worst thing that could happen to you at work. For me, that was charging users thousands of times the amount they should have been charged. In this talk we will find out what caused this particular bug and what we learnt from dealing with the whole situation. Did someone get fired? Did the company survive the bug? Come to the talk and you will learn the answers, but more importantly a thing or two about how to go through tough times at work.
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In "The Overnight Failure," presented at RubyConf 2017, Sebastian Sogamoso shares a personal and relatable story about a significant failure he experienced at work - a programming bug that accidentally charged users hundreds or thousands of dollars instead of the intended small fee. The talk emphasizes the importance of addressing failures openly and learning from them, rather than hiding them away, which can contribute to feelings of imposter syndrome in the tech community. Key points covered in the talk include: - **Embracing Failure**: Sogamoso highlights that everyone makes mistakes, and discussing these mess-ups publicly can foster a supportive environment. Many in the industry only share success stories, which can lead others to feel inadequate when things go wrong. - **Understanding the Problem**: He recounts how a routine process at his company, designed to facilitate carpooling payments, malfunctioned, resulting in multiple duplicate charges for users. The breakdown of this process escalated into what he calls "Black Saturday." - **Crisis Response**: When alerted to the problem, Sogamoso detailed the frantic discovery of errant transactions and how attempts to reverse the charges resulted in further complications. He emphasizes the importance of calm, methodical problem-solving rather than rushing to implement quick fixes. - **Lessons Learned**: After resolving the immediate crisis, he discusses critical takeaways, advocating for documentation of failures, understanding root causes, and creating a no-blame environment that encourages learning from mistakes. - **Community Support**: The speaker encourages attendees to share their own failures, reinforcing the notion that failures are a shared experience that can strengthen the community. The main takeaways from the talk stress that everyone will face failure in their careers, but it's how one reacts and learns from these experiences that defines growth. Sogamoso invites the audience to embrace their failures and build a culture of openness and learning in their organizations.
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