Save Your Butt From Getting Cut  ## Metadata - Author: [[Learn DevRel]] - Full Title: Save Your Butt From Getting Cut - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: - #DevRel - #developer-advocacy - #career-resilience Author: Learn DevRel Source: Article Reference: https://www.learndevrel.com/save-your-butt-from-getting-cut/ date created: 2025-08-21 00:00 --- # Title: Save Your Butt From Getting Cut ## Table of Contents: - [📚 References](#-references) - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#-notes) - [📖 References](#-references-1) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) Assessment](#-deib-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-belonging-assessment) - [✅ Logical validity](#-logical-validity) - [🔍 DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🔍 SEO Evaluation](#-seo-evaluation) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### References: - Learn DevRel. “Save Your Butt From Getting Cut.” Retrieved from the article link above. ## 📝 Summary: The article argues that Developer Relations is frequently misunderstood—especially by executives who fund or staff it—so advocates must proactively demonstrate value. It prescribes a pragmatic, metrics-first operating system for DevRel teams: track every deliverable, report impact with discipline, hold recurring stakeholder 1:1s, communicate internally, focus on priorities, set goals to enable saying “no,” track cross-company influence, practice transparency, automate reporting, and create a repeatable playbook. The thrust: creativity plus rigor in measurement can make DevRel’s contributions legible and defensible during budget cuts. ## 📖 Main Content: The author frames the current economic uncertainty and the vulnerability of DevRel roles. The core thesis is that DevRel metrics are tractable—akin to marketing—if teams treat measurement as part of the work. Success depends on building an internal reputation system rooted in data, relationships, and repeatable processes. - Track every deliverable: Define a measurable outcome (reach, engagement, qualified leads, docs improvements, issue reductions) before starting. - Report impact: Standardize post-mortems and monthly/quarterly reporting to make value visible. - Stakeholder 1:1s: Cadenced conversations to align expectations and surface wins/needs. - Internal comms: Regular updates company-wide to socialize progress and opportunities. - Focus and goals: Use OKRs/KPIs to prioritize; let goals be the “bad cop” enabling “no.” - Track influence: Capture intangible contributions (product feedback loops, unblockings). - Transparency/tools: Open dashboards, shared trackers, and accessible artifacts. - Automation: Reduce manual toil via BI dashboards and integrations. - Playbook: Document how DevRel operates so outcomes are repeatable and resilient. ### 🗒️ Notes - Economic context - DevRel at risk in downturns; value must be legible early and often. - Measurement mindset - “Everything we do can be tracked somehow” with creativity and discipline. - Treat measurement as part of the deliverable definition. - Operating cadence - Recurring stakeholder 1:1s to calibrate, align, and pre-empt surprises. - Regular internal communications to scale awareness and support. - Strategy and prioritization - Stay focused on a small set of priorities tied to company goals. - Use goals to decline distractions with a shared rationale. - Influence and transparency - Capture cross-functional impact (PM, Docs, Support, Sales Engineering). - Share open dashboards; cultivate a culture of visibility. - Process and automation - Automate data collection and reporting where possible. - Create a written playbook for continuity and onboarding. ## 📖 References: - Primary: “Save Your Butt From Getting Cut” (linked above). - Related background for context: - “What is Developer Relations?” by Mary Thengvall (for DevRel frameworks). - “OKRs” by Doerr (goal-setting as a guardrail). ## 🗣️ Paraphrase: 1) Original idea: The economy is rough; even great tactics might not fully protect roles, but DevRel can and should be measured like marketing through creative, disciplined tracking. Paraphrase: Given economic headwinds, nothing is guaranteed—but DevRel work is quantifiable when teams commit to inventive, consistent measurement practices, much like modern marketing. 2) Original idea: Executives often misunderstand DevRel; ensure leaders see the value by tracking impact on every deliverable and reporting it. Paraphrase: Because leaders frequently misread DevRel’s purpose, you must make results unmistakable—attach impact metrics to all work and surface them routinely to decision-makers. ## 📰 Newsletter: This week in the WordPress and open source world: we’re doubling down on learning and impact. If you’re picking up web dev, start by shipping something small—build a custom block with modern JS, commit early with Git, and iterate. Recent updates worth a peek: WP 6.x performance improvements continue to land, and new block theme tooling streamlines styling. Community highlights: shoutout to first-time contributors joining Docs and Training teams—your PRs and lesson plans are already improving onboarding. New plugins on our radar: a lightweight image optimizer with AVIF support and a GitHub Actions deploy helper for WP sites—great for teaching CI/CD fundamentals. Advocacy tip of the week: measure what you teach. Track workshop attendance, GitHub issues resolved, and docs PRs merged. Turning learning into visible impact helps protect community programs in lean times. Dive deeper into making DevRel legible with this practical guide on demonstrating value and automating reporting from Learn DevRel’s “Save Your Butt From Getting Cut.” ## ✅ Action Items: Prompt tailored to your role and goals (GoDaddy, OSS/WordPress, educator, aspiring OSPO director): - Alignment framing: For each article you read, summarize in 3 bullets: - Open-source advocacy: How does it strengthen sustainable funding, governance, or contributor value visibility? - Contributor engagement: What repeatable practices onboard, retain, or empower contributors (especially first-timers)? - Education: Which pedagogical strategies (scaffolding, assessment, feedback loops) translate into curriculum, workshops, or docs? - OSPO trajectory: - Map insights to OSPO functions: policy/compliance, community strategy, inner/outer sourcing, metrics, and risk management. - Define 2 metrics you would institutionalize (e.g., contributor retention rate, time-to-first-PR, docs NPS). - WordPress ecosystem impact: - Specify how to implement within Make WordPress teams: propose an issue template, a training module, or a dashboard. - Transparency and inclusivity: document decisions publicly, publish dashboards, and include DEIB checks in review. - Deliverable template for each article: - 1-par summary linking to company OKRs. - 3 measurable experiments to test within 4 weeks. - Stakeholders to brief (product, docs, hosting, support). - Risks, mitigations, and an automation plan (dashboard or data capture). How this article aligns: - Advocacy: Makes DevRel value visible to executives—critical for sustained investment in OSS community work. - Engagement: Encourages recurring 1:1s and internal comms that unblock contributor success. - Education: Treats measurement and playbooks as curriculum—codifying practices for repeatability. - OSPO-readiness: Emphasizes dashboards, governance of goals, and cross-org influence mapping. ## 🧪 Hypotheses: - If DevRel teams track every deliverable with predefined success metrics, executive confidence and budget stability will increase. - Regular stakeholder 1:1s reduce misalignment and last-minute cuts during planning cycles. - Automated dashboards increase internal advocacy and cross-team collaboration. - Clear goal-linked prioritization decreases ad-hoc requests and improves outcome quality. ### 📊 Methodology: - Data s - Summary: The text discusses tips for success in a DevRel position, emphasizing the importance of tracking impact, setting goals, and being transparent with stakeholders. DevRel metrics are compared to marketing metrics, highlighting the need for creativity and discipline in tracking deliverables. The post offers additional support and resources for paying subscribers looking to excel in DevRel. - URL: https://www.learndevrel.com/save-your-butt-from-getting-cut/ Photo by [charlesdeluvio](https://unsplash.com/@charlesdeluvio?utm_source=ghost&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=api-credit) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=ghost&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=api-credit) The current economy is not excellent. And honestly, the tips I will share may not even be enough to save any of us right now. However, I've learned that there are a variety of things that you need to do in a DevRel position to ensure your role & team are safe. Why? Because DevRel is still incredibly misunderstood, and often by the very person who decides to bring the role into the company. We need Executives & leaders to see the value you or your team is creating. DevRel metrics are no more complicated than marketing metrics. Everything we do can be tracked somehow, but it requires creativity and discipline to continually consider how you'll track the impact on every deliverable. ##### Tips For Finding DevRel Success * Track every deliverable * Report your impact — become data-driven * Schedule recurring stakeholder 1:1's * Send regular communications within the company * Stay **focused** on your priorities * Set goals and leverage them to say no * Track your influence across the company * Be transparent and leverage tools to do so * Setup automated reporting dashboards * Bonus: Create a playbook #### Supporter Section *Juicier content, real-life examples, tips for success, and templates!* #### This post is for paying subscribers only, Save Your Butt From Getting Cut, Learn DevRel, 01gyzd7e199xw3d1vtnn7j3sgx.