InnerSource is like Sourdough
At a talk at the InnerSource Summit 2022, I shared some thoughts about why “InnerSource is like Sourdough”.
While this might not be scientifically correct, the metaphor has helped me as a mental picture to explain the concept of InnerSource to myself and to others.
Summary
When baking bread with sourdough you are dealing with the sometimes surprizing behavior of wild yeasts, creating a bubbly dough that eventually turns into tasty bread.
Learning how to handle sourdough takes time, practices, and the willingness to experiment and fail. However once you master it, you are rewarded with more healthy bread, richer in flavor and with a longer shelf life!
InnerSource has many similarities to sourdough in this regards.
This talk highlights those similarities in a (hopefully) thought-provoking and fun way. And to make you hungry there will be a lot of bread pictures ;)