Spotting the missing principle, and what automation means

The scenarios that give you a failure and expect you to name the principle that was not applied, and the definition of automation the exam asks for directly inside the optimize-and-automate principle.

Lesson 4 of 4 in objective 2. The ITIL guiding principles, part of ITIL 4 Foundation.

Optimise and automate are two different jobs, done in one order. Optimise — What it does: Makes something as useful as it can be; What it acts on: The steps that should exist; Done first, it: Leaves less to automate, and less waste. Automate — What it does: Runs steps with little or no human input; What it acts on: Whatever survived the previous step; Done first, it: Locks the waste in and speeds it up Optimise Automate What it does Makes something as useful as it can be Runs steps with little or no human input What it acts on The steps that should exist Whatever survived the previous step Done first, it Leaves less to automate, and less waste Locks the waste in and speeds it up
Optimise and automate are two different jobs, done in one order.

What automation means inside the principle

Automation here means using technology to carry out a step, or a series of steps, consistently and with limited or no human intervention. Two words in that are doing work. CONSISTENTLY, because reproducibility is a large part of the point and a wrong answer will describe automation as being about speed alone. And LIMITED OR NO, because automation is not defined as the total removal of people — a step with a human approval left in it can still be automated.

What automation is not: it is not the goal of the principle, it is not a synonym for optimisation, and it is not restricted to technology tasks. The principle is about the pairing, and the examinable content is the order in which the two happen.

The two load-bearing words in the definition, and the wrong answer each rules out. Left column, The wrong claim in an option; right column, The word that rules it out. Automation is about speed points at Consistently (Reproducibility is a large part of the point). Every human step must go and An approval left in spoils it both point at Limited or no intervention (A step with a human approval in it can still be automated). The wrong claim in an option The word that rules it out Automation is about speed Consistently Reproducibility is a large part of the point Every human step must go An approval left in spoils it Limited or no intervention A step with a human approval in it can still be automated
The two load-bearing words in the definition, and the wrong answer each rules out.

Reading the failure and naming the principle

These questions describe an organisation doing something plausible that went wrong, and offer four principles. The reliable method is to identify what was NOT considered, then match. A director proposing to decommission the entire existing toolset and every process on day one, so as not to inherit bad habits, has not assessed the current state and will discard what already works — start where you are.

An organisation that improves its deployment tooling and ignores the training, the roles and the supplier contracts around it, and finds the benefit never materialises, has optimised a part and left the system alone — think and work holistically. A provider measuring only technical availability while users call the service frustrating has lost the link to what anyone actually wanted — focus on value.

Notice that the wrong answers in these items are principles that are also true of the scenario. The clean-slate director is arguably not being iterative either, and the deployment-tooling organisation could be accused of not collaborating. Specificity decides: name the principle whose subject matter IS the thing that was missed.

Each failure points at one principle: the one whose subject is what was missed. Left column, What the organisation did, and never considered; right column, The principle it missed. Every tool and process cleared out on day one and The current state was never assessed both point at Start where you are (Not iterative is also true here, and less specific). Only the deployment tooling improved and Training, roles and supplier contracts untouched both point at Think and work holistically (Not collaborating is also true here, and less specific). Only technical availability measured and Nobody asked why users call it frustrating both point at Focus on value. What the organisation did, and never considered The principle it missed Every tool and process cleared out on day one The current state was never assessed Start where you are Not iterative is also true here, and less specific Only the deployment tooling improved Training, roles and supplier contracts untouched Think and work holistically Not collaborating is also true here, and less specific Only technical availability measured Nobody asked why users call it frustrating Focus on value
Each failure points at one principle: the one whose subject is what was missed.

Worth carrying in

Automation
Technology performing steps consistently, with limited or no human intervention.
Optimisation
Making something as effective and useful as it can be. Comes first.
Clean slate
The anti-pattern "start where you are" exists to prevent.
Partial improvement
Tooling improved, people and contracts ignored — a holistic failure.

What the exam does with this

Objective
2. The ITIL guiding principles
Share of the exam
15% (the whole objective)
Questions in this lesson
4
Signed for by a person
0

Partly checked. None of the 4 questions here has been read against the cited source by a person. 4 questions have been checked against their cited clause by an automated pass — which is not the same thing, and is not a signature.

Only questions a person has signed for are used in mock exams here. That is the whole difference between the two kinds of checking above.

How these questions are written — where each question comes from, what the verification ledger records, and what happens when one is found wrong.

Drill this lesson

A lesson is one sitting: the trainer draws a short run from these questions alone and spaces the ones you get wrong.

Practise Spotting the missing principle, and what automation means

Questions in this lesson

Practise Spotting the missing principle, and what automation means

The rest of objective 2