November 8, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Pay It Forward
November 10, 2014 at 12:07 am
A lot of it, in my opinion, is that IT is most often considered a cost. I have seen some moves recently (last few years) for companies to stop considering them a cost. This has seen a shift in attitudes from "I need this done cheaply and yesterday" to a more engaged position. Only time will tell if this has a long term positive effect.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
November 10, 2014 at 2:12 am
Its my opinion that most organisations need to be moving towards a software focus where a lot of the value of the organisation will be in the intelligence of the employees and in the flexibility with which they can organise themselves.
I've found this not always to be a management problem. I have found some professions quite reluctant to adapt. Things like accountants and lawyers saying " why do I need to learn about software I m an xxxx " Totally missing the point that if something can be automated the person doing the automating needs both technical and disciplinary skills.
Learn the technical skills and learn the disciplinary skills that personally for me is the way forward.
I love that joke by the way ( the best jokes always the truth told back to people )
November 10, 2014 at 3:41 am
Maybe we should stop thinking of employees as 'Resources' and start thinking of them as 'Domain Experts'.
All employees gain expertise of their work domain as they perform their jobs. There are very few jobs where employees can be thought of as merely resources and swapped in and out without any loss of productivity. Even the most mundane of jobs will have a higher productivity with people who have been employees for some time.
The higher the skill level in the job, the greater is the need for domain knowledge in order to maintain and improve productivity. Within IT, it can take a few months before a new employee has enough understanding of the organisation's systems to be fully productive, regardless of their technical skills.
Domain knowledge is a valuable resource. It has always been part of management culture to treat lower-level employees as 'resources' or 'assets' that can be increased, decreased or replaced with no impact beyond the normal 'noise' of doing business. Although business needs almost continually change and the skills needed also change, a manager that can exploit domain knowledge to deal with change will be significantly more effective (productivity, market share, employee and customer loyalty, profits, etc) than a manager who seeks to force change without regard to the impact on domain knowledge.
Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.
When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist - Archbishop Hélder Câmara
November 10, 2014 at 5:35 am
I don't think you can blame MBA's for that attitude. That sort of attitude is usually embedded into corporate culture long before the MBA's show up. It usually comes from management that cut their teeth in the 60's where you were expected to leave high school and stay at the same company until you retire. Those guys take offense at the idea you might even be interested in working some place other than the baby that is the company they built.
As an MBA, developer, and former DBA, I take great offense at your blanket statement. Most MBA's know they need talented tech people and talented people of any sort require care and feeding.
It is really no different than developers that say their DBA won't let them use whiz-bang technology X that just can bubmling out of the latest open source repo and that is just unreasonable. Or the DBA's that make blanket declarations about all developers wanting to take down their servers and mess up their data.
It is just too broad of a brush. Stereotypes and straw men don't help anybody but the people who just want to sit around and complain. The best way to fix the situation is to man-up, do you own training, and move on. That is exactly what I did. I took control of my future rather than letting it just happen to me. I had a full time job, took care of my family, ran a church, and did my MBA all at the same time. So don't tell me you just can't do it. I will tell you that you just don't want to put the effort into it.
November 10, 2014 at 6:19 am
ddriver (11/10/2014)
I don't think you can blame MBA's for that attitude. That sort of attitude is usually embedded into corporate culture long before the MBA's show up. It usually comes from management that cut their teeth in the 60's where you were expected to leave high school and stay at the same company until you retire. Those guys take offense at the idea you might even be interested in working some place other than the baby that is the company they built.As an MBA, developer, and former DBA, I take great offense at your blanket statement. Most MBA's know they need talented tech people and talented people of any sort require care and feeding.
It is really no different than developers that say their DBA won't let them use whiz-bang technology X that just can bubmling out of the latest open source repo and that is just unreasonable. Or the DBA's that make blanket declarations about all developers wanting to take down their servers and mess up their data.
It is just too broad of a brush. Stereotypes and straw men don't help anybody but the people who just want to sit around and complain. The best way to fix the situation is to man-up, do you own training, and move on. That is exactly what I did. I took control of my future rather than letting it just happen to me. I had a full time job, took care of my family, ran a church, and did my MBA all at the same time. So don't tell me you just can't do it. I will tell you that you just don't want to put the effort into it.
I agree with your point about sweeping statements, however, editorials are written to provoke a reaction in order to stimulate debate. Success!!!
Not everyone is geared the way you are (FYI I "man-up"ed (sic) holding a consulting role whilst doing an MSc, having a young family, learning new technology/processes/methodolgies, moving the lawn and wearing my underwear on top of my trousers) but that shouldn't mean that people shouldn't be supported by their employer to do the same role as the role develops. Their is a fundamental difference between self-advancement and advances in ones current role. Not everyone wants self-advancement and those that do should be doing so on their own accord with any support from their employer being a bonus. Advances is ones current role is a change in job spec and is the responsibility of the employer. I certainly would like to see engagement from an employee in maintaining their own skills but crucially this is the employer asking the employee to change what they do.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
November 10, 2014 at 6:48 am
I like your point on vendor training versus the analogy of doctors training with other doctors, legal CE, etc. The equivalent that comes to mind is the Google-style devotion of FTE time to personal/pet projects.
This is something I'd like to see more companies adopt as a training paradigm rather than yet more homogenized, sterile-textbook-style vendor learning, setting aside time for employees to learn from others, attempt to learn some new language or technique, etc. that otherwise only fits in the "spackle" times of one's day.
November 10, 2014 at 8:05 am
There's been a joke for years that responds to this question: what happens if I train my developers and they leave? The answer (and the joke) is this: what happens if you don't train your developers and they stay?
Yes, an organization still has to pay their employees a salary regardless of whether they're trained or not, so you might as well train them, if for no other reason that just to insure you get the most out of your "resources". Even a generous training program will be < 5% of the employee's total compensation. If an employee leaves as soon as they're trained, then that is evidence of a deeper problem; obviously they weren't happy and would have left eventually regardless of the training. I've actually left jobs because I felt I wasn't getting enough training.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
November 10, 2014 at 8:12 am
Although a blanket statement, there is the element of truth to it. MBAs are trained to be fast trackers. This ends up making them the tool for devious CEOs like General Electric's Jack Welch to implement ruthless "slash and burn" cost containment and the vicious form of "rank and yank" in the workplace. Now Mr. Welch's approach is considered the quintessential form of executive leadership in the financial services industry and other industries. I could comment more on this subject, but that isn't the point of the editorial.
Personally, I believe what is happening to the IT industry in big Fortune 500 companies will come back to bite them in the 'assets'. It is with premeditated ignorance that these corporate officers don't understand even the basics of the technology that can kill their business or on the other hand provide a competitive advantage. They focus on Wall Street metrics and their Restrictive Stock Options. They could have as much interest in the business of selling horse turds as the businesses they run if the RSOs in the horse turd industry are plentiful.
A single malcontent DBA could destroy a business; professionalism and fear of consequences prevent this. But consider what has happened to IT in the Western world. We no longer have critical IT resources as trusted, stable employees under their country's laws. Outsourcing firms in faraway places will vett for technical skills (and perhaps language skills), not personal stability of the contract worker. I am not going to suggest how an insider catastrophe of the highest magnitude could happen under this arrangement, but using a little bit of common sense could put it together.
Ongoing competitive advantage could also come with leveraging ***trained*** IT resources (the original topic of the editorial). But that would take investing in employees.
I apologize for the rant, but I think there is something in what I am saying that needs to be shared with the IT industry. Be careful about your career, especially if you are in the early stages of it. The business world views you as a short-term necessary evil. Their hope and prayer is that a silver bullet will be invented that will provide low-cost, unlimited IT and they can finally be a "technology-free" enterprise (a comment in a leading management journal about 15 years ago). Watch for red flags. There are many and training is one. If the business doesn't want to invest in you, immediately do a self assessment. For your long term career goals, you might have to jump ship to a lesser paying job to maximize your value to other companies in the future.
November 10, 2014 at 8:33 am
I think the primary reason why organizations don't invest in IT training for their staff is because they actually don't have any plans to invest in their IT infrastructure, so they don't see the point in upgrading their staff. Even if the employees do go through a week of training, they come back to the office all jazzed and say "Wow, that new XYZ stuff is really exciting.... If only we had an opportunity to use it here...". So they go back their cubicles and the same old boring routine.
But can't get XYZ out of their head. They've eaten fruit from the tree of knowledge. It's inevitable that they type XYZ into a job search website... and one thing leads to another. So it's not just about the training; it's about executive management making a full commitment to keep the organization's IT moving forward. If they don't do that, then half of the employees (the better half) will leave with or without training.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
November 10, 2014 at 8:33 am
What this really gets down to is that there are a few really good organizations, and quite a few poor ones. Good organizations use all the parts of their organization so succeed. Poor ones look for departments to blame to problems. A classic is to blame the accountants for the problems of budget, when the real problem is with the offending department that has over spent or otherwise miss-managed their costs and revenues. With the rise of MBA's in that last 20-30 years, the blame is often directed at MBA's.
And lucky companies find one or two good products that sell, then, if they are good, find others, and if not, perhaps luck will let them find another, while the poor will then slowly die.
But trying to train managers to understand that training is important is a lost cause. Those that understand, already do, and those that do not, never will. After reading countless articles in trade magazines that talk about how training has benefited them, and that experimentation was what lead them to the final success, you would think that it was obvious to all.
Alas, no, there will always be many poorly run companies. So get over it, and if you do take a full time job, make sure it is with either a well run company, or at least one that has some really good market success trends.
The more you are prepared, the less you need it.
November 10, 2014 at 9:57 am
We don't need training. Robots will replace us suddenly and everything will be fine. If you don't believe me, check out this link:
November 10, 2014 at 10:51 am
Blaming the MBA is like blaming the janitor. This isn't just a DBA issue.
The problem with Wall Street is how the Executives have absolutely no accountability.
The Database is just a company asset. This is where SQL Server Central might consider a blog about Corporate Responsibility.
In the old days, if a CEO misplaced half of the company's cash (assets), the CEO would be held accountable. Probably fired and often would not get a bonus and/or never work again as a CEO.
Until top management is held directly responsible for assets management, nothing should (or will) change.
Today, the CEO has spoofed stockholders to believe data (and associated process) has no value. The MBA take that lead as data having no value and act according to the roles they are paid to fulfill. What is described in this article has zero value and zero accountability at the CEO and Board levels.
The Too-Big-To-Fail Banks have taken the lead in this lack of accountability. The rest of the companies must follow this lead to stay competitive.
Look at the outrageous activities in the Banking, Financing, and Investment industry. The new standard is to pay a tiny fine where none of the management involved go to jail or face personal fines. The company keeps the billions and pay a few million in fines. It is just cost of doing business. Nothing was solved, no practice is changed.
You can call it whatever you want, it is the new normal. Just to be realistic, since 2008 the Administration's Attorney has failed to even seriously charge even one individual for the financial crisis.
In Theory, Practice and Theory are the same, in Practice they are not.
Discussions about how it "ought to be" don't solve problems.
Let me close with a true story.
In Chicago, a Bank ran an advertisement to find someone to fill ATM Machines with cash.
A guy gets interviewed and agrees to work for less than others. The Bank call the references, likes the low price they negotiated. They give the guy $500,000.00 in small bills. They never see the guy again.
The FBI investigates, finds out the references were just throw-away cell phones. The FBI authorized FCIC to give the bank $500,000.00.
Eight weeks later, the same bank has the exact same thing happen.
Why?
At the time, I brought this up with a now retired FBI agent that specialized in Bank Fraud. He indicated that the Banks might not have financial interest in changing anything until it cost them money.
If lawmakers are too incompetent to create basic law regarding bad behavior, what chance do we have of them holding CEO and Board members accountable to the investors? DBA fall way below the investors on the food chain.
My prediction is that it will get much, much worse for DBA types and all of the rest until there is some level of holding the top level accountable for the company assets. Look at a company's financial assets. Where is the value of Data and the systems?
We all sat silent as the Target data breach, run (according to their web site) in India. The news blamed one lone US Citizen DBA. We all accepted that. My credit card personally had over $2,000 charged against it as part of the Target breach. It took me and probably a million others about 8 hours of personal uncompensated time to deal with it. We all accepted that one DBA, most likely the only American on the Target payroll, as being responsible. Nobody called for Target to compensate the victims for actual damages. Nobody remotely suggest the Target Owner be held responsible.
Wall Street Journal:
November 10, 2014 at 10:55 am
Good post and very inciteful. Thanks.
November 10, 2014 at 2:24 pm
Totally agree!!
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Rod
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