FinOps, Feedback, and Detachment: Practical Lessons for Cloud Leaders

I recently read an article by Frank Contrepois that resonated more than I expected. I have spoken with Frank several times over the past months, and as I get to know him a bit more personally, I understand better where his perspective comes from. His writing often blends practical insight with a kind of quiet philosophical clarity, and this piece was no exception. It touched on themes that also appear constantly in my own work in Cloud FinOps and CloudOps: how we process feedback, how we detach from instinctive reactions, and how we turn discomfort into something actionable.

In particular Frank’s reflection on detachment struck a chord with me. In FinOps and CloudOps, you are constantly exposed to feedback loops: budget variances, architectural flaws, unexpected workload growth, stakeholder expectations. Early in my career, I used to absorb these things as personal judgements. Over time I learned to treat them as signals:

• A wrong forecast isn’t a failure; it is a sign the model needs to adapt.

• Difficult feedback isn’t an attack; it is an opportunity to adjust communication patterns across technical and non-technical teams.

One nuance I would add is that emotions are not ‘lies’. In my experience, they serve as early indicators of system stress:

• A sense of unease before a SteerCo often reveals a structural inconsistency we haven’t formalised yet.

• Discomfort during a FinOps enablement session often points to a gap in understanding that needs addressing.

Detachment is useful, but the real progress comes from redesigning the system, not just reframing the emotion.

Frank's article is a good reminder that professional growth sits somewhere between psychological clarity and operational structure. You need both.