Stop, Don't Panic

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Stop, Don't Panic

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Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Posted Monday, March 15, 2010 9:15 PM

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Comments posted to this topic are about the item Stop, Don't Panic

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Post #883509

John Summers

Posted Monday, March 15, 2010 10:27 PM

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Very much been there, done that. Since I work in a manufacturing environment (7X24). I can add my own rule to "don't panic" - sleep on it. Between midnight and 6AM, when production wakes you up. Your monitor processes are e-mailing, texting, sounding the sirens, you've got a radical idea on how to fix the whole mess... stop, just patch enough to limp through until morning, get some sleep, go in and go over your ideas with somebody more sane (or at least more rested). I have more than once realized that what I would have done at 3AM, would have only added fuel to the fire.
Tired people make really stupid decisions. Be aware of this

Post #883542

John Langston

Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 5:22 AM

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Have a plan, at least a generic outline of what you will do under given circumstances. It's a subset of what management should have in place for their business continuity plan. Management has one right? So should you.
Consider in advance the steps you would run through, the checks you would make and why you would make them. The plan may help yourself and others really understand the purpose of the data housed on server A and who consumes it. Having a list of data consumers is the starting point for that notification list of business people who need to be in the loop when disaster strikes.

Post #883660

GSquared

Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 6:46 AM

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Yep.

Or, to put more explictly: I agree with the editorial. Far too often, I've seen people react to stress by doing stupid things.

On the other hand, after you've had to reach inside someone's body to clamp a bleeding artery shut with your fingers, nothing IT-related seems all that panic-inducing. That may have something to do with my ability to remain calm in emergencies.

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Post #883717

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 8:44 AM

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You hope management has thought things through, but often I've found they haven't. It's only the people that have been through things that tend to have plans in place, or a general idea ahead of time.

Pushing back on management to make sure things are fixed properly is hard, but hopefully you feel empowered enough to do it.

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Post #883849

sjsubscribe

Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 8:59 AM

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Reminds me of the line, make haste and repent at leisure.

Post #883863

Ross McMicken

Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 10:06 AM

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These are the situations where having set procedures in place help tremendously. If there is a document outlining the steps to take when something bad happens, the chances of rash action are reduced. A proper change management process, where any change to production has to be tested in acceptance and approved prior to being placed in production, also helps prevent disasters from getting worse.

Post #883950

SQLRNNR

Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 10:11 AM

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I agree with the editorial. It is important to remain cool under pressure. That task is much more difficult when you have 30 managers watching over your back. However, it is at that time that remaining cool is much more necessary.

Jason AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
I have given a name to my pain...
MCM SQL Server 2008

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Post #883955

Elliott Whitlow

Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 10:25 AM

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I too agree with the editorial..

It is far too often WAY MORE damaging to jump into a fix without proper consideration than it is to stop and think about it.

Case in point, a recent discussion here about a database that was suspect and some questionable advice on how to fix it. That advice failed to cover WHY the database was suspect and that a little bit of research BEFORE action was REQUIRED.

And when management is squealing about how bad they need this fixed remaining calm and getting it fixed RIGHT THE FIRST TIME helps give them the confidence to let you do your job, not always but it helps.

And I've had a stack of people in my cubie before just watching me type, to the point I turned around and said, "listen, I'm going as fast as I can, you standing there isn't going to make this go any faster. I will let you know when I know something." Which was the subtlest way I could say SCRAM, I'M WORKING HERE..

CEWII

Post #883973

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 10:39 AM

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I've actually had to tell a VP to "go away" when I was managing. It was bad enough that I would go in to check on DBAs. Having him walk in was like asking for trouble.

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Post #883981

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