I've had a pretty heavy involvement in Brent Ozar's interview of Matt Morollo. The reason for my intense activity is he was an unknown factor to me. I interact with Thomas LaRock and Jeremiah Peschka on almost a daily basis through Twitter. I follow their blogs. I exchange emails with them. There are some things we agree on, others we don't, and still others we've never discussed. As a result, you didn't see me "laying the wood" to them on their interviews because I have a good sense of what they'd bring to the board, of what they think of PASS and its constituency, and what they see as pain points in our community. Brian Moran has been around a while. I've seen his track record. So while we've never talked in any way, I believe I have a good sense of what I believe he brings. But I needed to know about Matt Morollo. So I stepped in and participated heavily in the conversation.
Stuart Ainsworth made a good point that the other candidates should be similarly vetted by voters as has been done with Mr. Morollo. I explained to him why i didn't (and you see my explanation here). Jorge Segarra made another good point about Thomas LaRock having done that well through the UStream presentations he did. The bottom line is to know who you're voting for. Your vote makes a difference. If you don't know the candidates, ask them the questions you want answered. Do the research on them. Determine for yourself whether or not that person is the right person for the board or not, as Joe Webb put so eloquently:
"But I will tell you that you should give careful consideration and follow up on the questions I’ve outlined in this post. Email the candidates. Ask them questions until you’re satisfied with your knowledge and you can confidently make your decision."
So where do you start? Before you do anything else, start here: PASS Board of Directors Slate of Candidates.
Then look at what the candidates have to say for themselves (these were the two who have put more out specifically about their candidacy):
Check the interviews with Brent Ozar (and these are in alphabetical order by last name, so no one can say I'm showing Tom favoritism due to his love of bacon... because if that were true, I think Jeremiah would be 2nd on the list):
And engage with them, such as through Twitter:
In other words, take the time to understand where each candidate stands and cast your vote accordingly.
I've engaged a little in the discussion on Matt Morollo's interview on Brent Ozar's blog. It made me go back and re-read the other candidates, and when re-reading Brian Moran's, I was struck with this comment:
"I’ve learned over the years that there are a lot of things that I can delegate to other people. I can’t delegate being a good husband or father. I prioritize those jobs on a daily basis even when I’m super busy with other professional responsibilities."
I'm reading (finally) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey's second point is to begin with the end in mind. Know what you want. Then use that to help you make your decisions. The example he used at the beginning of the discussion on this point is, "What will people say at your funeral?" It all goes back to goals. Have you thought about what it is you really want? Have you considered what is truly important to you? And are your current actions supporting those things?
I blogged on my Goal Keeping DBA blog about beginning seminary. It's a goal I've had for a long time and I'm finally beginning that journey. Steve Jones commented and gave me a very needed reminder that if I need to step back in other areas, like in the professional space, to make sure I do that if this is more important. It is. I have a great deal of respect for Steve, as most of us do. Time and time again he has offered invaluable advice, not only about the profession, but about life in general. I need to make sure what I do stays in the proper perspective. Brian's comment hit deep because it is something I believe, too. I can't delegate being a good husband and a proper father. I can't let my job or my ministry to take me away from those responsibilities.
And that gets to the point of this post. If you don't know what your long term goals are, and what their priorities are to you, you may reach the end of that long term period and realize you aren't happy with the road you chose. I don't want to be in that position. I've set goals. I want to reach them. Reminders like Steve's and Brian's help me stay on track. If you've not set goals for yourself, this isn't something to procrastinate on. Once you do, rack and stack them. And then let them help you choose your actions in your future decisions. You'll stand a better chance of looking back down the road you've traveled and being able to say, "Yes, I'm glad I'm where I ended up." Being a graduate of The Citadel, one of the things they reminded us is that we took the road less traveled. That comes from Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken. I'll leave you with the last stanza (and yes, there are two interpretations... we choose to look at the positive one):
I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --I took the one less travelled by,and that has made all the difference
I should be writing a technical post in the next day or so. I've been focusing more on the community and professional development side because that's what is foremost in my mind right now. And that brings me to public speaking. I will admit that I've had a lot of experience being in front of a group of folks. You can go back to my days at The Citadel as a reason for that. My sophomore year, I participated in a group called C.A.D.R.E., which was a take-off of the cadre, the upper-classmen responsible for training the incoming freshmen each year (I did that, too, as a junior). C.A.D.R.E. stood for Citadel Alcohol Drug and Resource Educators and our primary responsibility was to provide education on alcohol and drug prevention. The Citadel had been smacked around with some public incidents where cadets had imbibed and then done something that made the newspaper. Hence the formation of C.A.D.R.E. But we quickly evolved into a drug/alcohol prevention group for the schools around Charleston than so much for The Citadel. I gave one presentation at The Citadel and one more at College of Charleston, but the bulk of my work was out in the public and private schools from 1st grade through 12th. And some of those were hostile crowds, for obvious reasons. But I really learned that speaking in front of a crowd was a learned skill. And because of some personal background having seen alcohol abuse first hand, I wanted to do everything I could to ensure these kids didn't follow down that same destructive path, even if I had only 30 minutes with them. So I forced myself to stay in there, to practice, to understand what it took to reach the various age groups, and to communicate clearly that I cared. As a result, I got better and got better in a hurry.
Since then I've taught Sunday School, led youth group, preached, and a lot of that on at least a several times a week basis. So I'm constantly in practice, if you want to look at it that way. I've got to be. The ministry I feel I've been called to is just as important to me as C.A.D.R.E. was back in my Citadel days. But you know what? I knew I could do better. Enter Toastmasters. Toastmasters has been around for a while (since 1924). And its purpose is to help people overcome their fear of public speaking and to become better at it. My organization has a private Toastmasters club, so I decided one day to join up. I realized quite quickly that there is an organized plan of development both as a speaker (through the Competent Communicator track) and as a meeting facilitator (through the Competent Leader track). To become a Compentent Communicator, you must give ten introductory speeches. Each speech is critiqued by an evaluator. That evaluator's job is to tell you what you did well and give you a suggestion or two (in a gentle, affirming way) for further improvement. For those new to Toastmasters, you should be assigned a mentor who is supposed to help you prep for your first few speeches, assist you in the first several meetings you attend, and get you ready for any roles you may take on at a given meeting. In other words, it's built around training everyone to be better at speaking and interacting in public.
In the SQL Server community there are a lot of smart folks out there. I've run across a few who, in one-on-one interactions, you learn quite a bit about how much they know about a given subject. But they are afraid to get in front of a user group or submit an abstract for something like the PASS Summit to present. If you are one of those people, I would urge you to take a look at Toastmasters. We need your experience in the community. We would love to interact with you and exchange ideas, tips, tricks, and knowledge. You are a valuable resource to others around you. Just as valuable as any of us you see doing presentations all the time. And truth be told, I get nervous before a presentation, too. That's natural. But I believe in what I'm doing, I care about the folks I'm speaking to, and that helps me overcome my fears. The community has been awesome to me, giving me opportunities I would never have dreamed of when I started to get involved with SQL Server a little over ten years ago. And so I feel compelled to give back in any way I can. It's the least I can do for so many folks who have taken the time to help me learn, grow, and gain experience. Hopefully, you feel the same way and you just need a little push in the right direction. Toastmasters can give that push, in a very positive way. So if you've not checked out Toastmasters, hit the site, look for a few clubs near you that fit your schedule and give them a try. At least one (I know several Toastmasters who are members of multiple clubs) should be the right place for you:
Toastmasters International
I'll be doing three talks this week, starting tomorrow (Tuesday).
If you're able to make it out for any of the three talks, I'd love to meet you. Whether your new to the crowd or an old hand in the community, relationships are what make it work.
For Charleston, I'll likely have my family with me. I'm a Citadel graduate and my wife is a College of Charleston and The Citadel Graduate College graduate (she has an M. Ed., which makes her the smartest one in our household), so we get back as a family whenever we can. At some point I'm going to get my oldest son involved in helping with the presentations because he loves doing things with me and he's about the right age to be able to help out. But that will probably be starting next year. I need to start his SQL Server education properly, but that means starting with the idea of set theory and functions and building from there.
And if you can get out to the Carolina Code Camp in Charlotte, you won't be disappointed. Each block is chalk full of great sessions and the only problem you'll have is deciding which session you want to go to the most. There isn't a single block where there isn't at least two sessions I would like to be at, so it looks like I'll have to do some random determination if I can't decide. So come on out, meet others who are in the same field, and start building connections and bonds with others who are passionate about technology.
Cross posted from The Goal Keeping DBA:
This is about a long term goal that I’ve had which isn’t posted on here, and that’s to eventually be a technical trainer in some capacity. The fact of the matter is I love to teach. I learned that when as a sophomore at The Citadel I spent much of second semester that year in public schools around Charleston teaching drug and alcohol prevention and while doing tutoring at Burke High School, also as a cadet. I teach at least twice a week as part of my duties as a junior high youth minister, and every so often I put on a “brown bag lunch” presentation at work, talking about a technical subject. Plus, I’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of years giving presentations to user groups, both to give back to the community, but also because I just love teaching.
So one day I would love to be a technical trainer in a part time capacity (I think you need some time doing real world work, too, to make you a more effective trainer). And I took my first solid step in that direction by completing a Train the Trainer course at MicroStaff IT that Microsoft recognizes for its Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) certification. We also recorded the presentation (part of the exit requirement for the class) that hopefully is good enough to submit for the second part of the Certified Technical Trainer+ (CTT+) certification from CompTIA. I’ve got other requirements to complete (MCITP for the MCT and a written exam for the CTT+), but the Train the Trainer course was the most difficult because it’s not offered very much and because the cost was completely out of pocket. However, if my goal is to be one day be a technical trainer, it is a worthwhile investment in my career.
On a related note, Pete Mourfield, head of the Augusta Developers Guild, was also taking the class and we got a chance to work together. Pete’s a smart guy and passionate about the developer community. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him and learning from him. If you get a chance to get to one of his presentations, even if you’re not a developer, you certainly should. You will definitely take away some useful knowledge. Pete is, as we say in the South, “good people.”
There is a lot of advice out there about how to get more done and how to accomplish one's dreams. I know research has shown that when folks write down their goals, they are more likely to get them done, as I explained when I introduced my goals blog. However, as I was doing my cool down after a workout last night I was thinking about goals, and not the ones you put in the back of the net. What brought up my thinking was the fact that I had finished a soccer workout and my mind rolled back to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, which was held here in the United States. The United States made it to the Round of 16, but we had drawn Brazil, the eventual winners. I remember that shortly after, Andrés Escobar was shot and killed back in Columbia. He had scored an own goal in group play, allowing the United States to beat Columbia 2-1 and advance (Columbia did not). Some believe that he was murdered for that own goal. Of course, we don't know the reason, but what I do know is that back then I was watching Tony Meola as the United States goalkeeper and envisioned making the US Men's National Team. I thought about the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which would be 12 years later, when I would be 32 years-old, a great age for a goalkeeper.
Needless to say, there wasn't much of a chance to accomplish that goal. I wasn't playing on my college soccer team and hadn't played anything other than intramurals since the end of the 1990-1991 season. And even that season, I wasn't the starting goalkeeper. I was the most polished with respect to skillset, certainly, but we had a great starting goalkeeper who was tough as nails and could get to balls I couldn't because he was significantly taller than me and had long arms to boot. You can't teach wingspan and size. I started at stopper instead. And I didn't see trying out as a walk-on my senior year as a real possibility because of my military assignment at The Citadel (Regimental Band and Pipes). So I wasn't playing, I hadn't played competitively in years, and there were others who were, either in top collegiate programs or professionally in Europe (such as Brad Friedel). It was a completely unrealistic goal.
So when we talk about setting goals, they have to be reachable. Goals should stretch us, but they need to be ones we can develop a plan for and realistically accomplish. For instance, if I were a junior DBA just getting started, it would be unrealistic for me to set as a goal to be a senior DBA in just a year. Part of being a senior DBA, at least in my humble opinion, is to have a few years of experience. You can learn a lot from books and articles and forum posts, but having been in the trenches, dealing with the pressure of getting production database restores done, handling a server crash, deploying a database solution on short (or no) notice, and learning to work with other technical teams can only come through doing. But what would be a realistic goal is to accomplish one of the MCITP certifications for SQL Server. That is certainly something a junior DBA can build a plan to accomplish, setting up time for training (if necessary), self-study, and taking the exams.
The other side of the coin is learning to adjust the plan for each goal as real life intrudes (because it will). For instance, I had set as this as a professional goal:
"I have written an average of 6 technical articles a month."
As I look at it now, I've done at least two each month. If you count a video at SQLShare (formerly Jumpstart TV), I've had two months where I've done 3 articles. That means to accomplish averaging 6 technical articles a month, I would have to write 72 - ((2 * 3) + (6 * 2)) = 54 articles in 4 months. That's 13.5 articles a month and if I haven't been able to break 4 yet, it's likely unrealistic to even hope to make that number. It's possible, if I write about 3 articles a week, but I don't think that's a realistic plan. I'm looking to up my article writing, and maybe I'll be able to average six each month for the remaining four months of 2009, but we'll see.
So to conclude, it's not just important to have goals and write them down. It's also important to develop realistic goals that are reachable. Goals that stretch us, yes, but goals we can build a reasonable plan to achieve. And we also must be ready and willing to change the plan as real life intrudes.
This is just a reminder that the call for nominations for the PASS Boards of Directors is open. The final date to submit a nomination is September 3rd, which is just over a week away, so there's not a whole lot of time left. However, if you're looking to give back to the community, then participating in the leadership of the Professional Association for SQL Server is certainly one way to do so. There are four slots on the board for the coming election and being part of the Board of Directors is certainly one way to give back to the community and help it grow.
And you will have an impact on the Board of Directors. I'm a chapter president (Midlands PASS Chapter) and members of the PASS board were instrumental in helping us get up and running and didn't hesitate to volunteer their time and advice to develop a small but neat user group. They also developed the regional mentor program, which has provided someone who is passionate about seeing local users groups in our region grow and develop. Also, looking at it from the volunteer side, I've been able to contribute to the community through opportunities developed by the board. So being part of the board means being able to help others in the community find a niche to contribute, be encouraged by your efforts and passion, and develop in their careers and their profession. If this is the kind of opportunity you're looking for, please consider submitting an application before the deadline.
I meant to write this earlier, like in July, but I suppose it's better late than never. I'm halfway through this year as a Microsoft MVP for SQL Server and I certainly hope it won't be my last. I wanted to reflect a bit on what I've seen thus far being a newly minted MVP. I'll talk about some of the things that being an MVP helps one realize. And then I'll discuss a couple of points about what being an MVP is not.
Being an MVP Makes You Realize That There Are Some Seriously Smart People in the Field:
Everyone knows the big names if you spend any time in the community. These are the people who you follow. When they write something, you read it, because you know you're going to learn something. You may not understand it all, but making the effort means progress. When they speak, you try to get into their sessions. And prior to being an MVP I realized how smart these folks were, right? Wrong. There has been talk about the private MVP newsgroups and when you get to be a part of them, you see them discussing and debating in areas that aren't necessarily what we know as their fields of expertise. Take, for instance, Erland Sommarskog. Is there anything this guy doesn't know? And you see that they are just as strong and knowledgable in those areas as in areas they are well known for. It's a humbling experience. And we won't even get into Steve Jones and Paul Randal and their immense reading habits, much of it outside of technology.
Being an MVP Makes You Realize That There Are Some Seriously Hard Working People in the Field:
Like with the smart people, you find some incredibly hard working folks within the MVP ranks. It's not that they aren't brilliant. They are. But their work rate, especially towards the community, is immense and leaves you in awe. You see some of it on their blogs and forum posts, but in a private setting like the newsgroups, you really see how involved they get, especially as they try to bring problems and issues to the attention of the MVP audience and to Microsoft. Folks like Aaron Bertrand and Jonathan Kehayias immediately come to mind in this respect.
Being an MVP Allows You to Take Stock and Set Higher Goals:
After seven months in, I really feel like they lowered the bar to award me an MVP award. When you see what folks are doing, the kinds of challenges they are taking on, it's yet again rather humbling. Whether it be working with VLDBs, complex ETL, or having such a detailed knowledge of the inner workings of the product (and this includes some who have not having worked for Microsoft), you can see how far the gap is between you and them. Case in point, a conversation I was having with Andy Kelly when he visited Midlands PASS and he's casually talking about VLDBs and performance work on them. It's inspiring and challenging at the same time.
Being an MVP Allows You to See More Areas Where You Can Contribute:
There's a ton of places to contribute within the community: from community sites like SSC, to dedicated forums, to SQL Saturdays to serving as a volunteer for PASS. But there are other areas like Microsoft's Thrive campaign where we see folks like Grant Fritchey and Joe Webb contributing. And it seems like Microsoft is always asking for input, especially on new initiatives. I've been able to take a look and offer some comments in projects that aren't directly related to SQL Server. It's been an exhilarating experience.
Being an MVP Isn't About SWAG:
There are a lot of benefits to being an MVP, both from Microsoft and from 3rd parties. I know folks have tried to estimate the value of being an MVP. I've taken advantage of a few of the offers, but truth be told, as good as they are, they pale in comparison to what I've mentioned above. If your goal is to become an MVP to get the SWAG, you're really going to miss out on the true value of the MVP community.
Being an MVP Isn't About Self:
Becoming an MVP is supposed to be about community support. You contribute to the community because you have a passion to do so. And somewhere along the line Microsoft recognizes you for the work you're doing. It may be worthwhile to have as a measurable receiving the MVP award, but that should not be the goal in and of itself. The goal should be about helping a community grow. Because as the community grows, everyone benefits. I've had great career opportunities and made awesome friends because of the community. There are a lot of times when I really feel like I need to be doing more, especially when I see how active some folks are on the forums, like Gail Shaw and Jeff Moden here at SSC. If you're pursuing an MVP for yourself, you're going after it for the wrong reasons. Contribute to the community. Draw satisfaction from helping others.
If you're not familiar with the reference, it comes from the movie Madagascar and the subsequent sequel and TV series (The Penguins of Madagascar). It's said by the leader of the penguins, such as in this YouTube clip. Basically, he says it when the penguins know something the others around them don't know, especially if that is something is not good. The phrase came to mind after reading this post from Tim Ford (@sqlagentman):
Just How Much Is Too Much?
I'll sum up the blog post here, but it's one that really should be read in its entirety. Basically, Tim was relying on a vendor to deliver a fix and the vendor failed. Multiple times. And the vendor failed because of very easily avoidable issues. So now Tim's organization is going to have to scramble through an unplanned application upgrade, all because the vendor couldn't do what we'd consider some pretty straight forward steps. Now that I've given the brief synopsis, go ahead and go read Tim's post.
In a situation like this there isn't a whole lot we can do. We're still dependent on the vendor to deliver something that works. Getting angry and ranting and raving and losing our cool may make us feel better for the short term, but the problem remains. And the person on the phone... it may not be his or her fault. So going off probably won't get us anywhere. So what can we do? One of the things I've picked up is losing my cool doesn't help me. Usually afterwards I just feel worse. So that brings me back to, "Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave."
The best attitude is to just smile at the situation and accept that it's what we have before us. That's not to say we sit pat and do nothing. But rather, we control ourselves, assess the situation, and look for what positive steps we can make going forward. Kind of like the Chiarello - Talde confrontation from Top Chef Masters. We can choose our response. Chiarello remarked during the show that he wanted to go off, but he didn't. Watching the episode, I could see him working to control his response to Talde's screaming. Or we can be like Talde, losing our heads. The choice is ours. But we'll typically get more accomplished with cooler heads. Hence the philosophy of "Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave." It's something I know I need to do a better job with, so I'll probably add it to my goals tracking and record when I get into a situation when I feel my temperature rising and how I reacted. Then after some time I'll take a look and compare the times I reacted well to the time I didn't. Hopefully over time I'll see that I've chosen the right approach, even when I was boiling. That's the goal.
I've been quiet as of late, pretty much ever since i went to Bethany Summer Youth Camp (BSYC) as a leader of the sports evangelism team (using soccer to reach kids). This is something Thomas LaRock pointed out in his latest rankings, which are a great place to find some really quality SQL Server bloggers to follow. He did so in a tongue-in-cheek style, reflecting that real life does come into play. But point taken that I haven't been blogging much lately. I needed the prod to start writing again. So I decided to start by what's been on my mind and work my way back into technology related posts, especially those about SQL Server.
One of the reasons I've been so quiet is due to my experiences at BSYC. At the camp I went back and worked in one of the communities I worked in last summer. And once again, I left feeling like there is more that needed to be done than a one week camp. I'm still thinking about what to do and how to do it. I have friends in that area now that can help, who will help, but it's more of a soul searching on my part to see what's next. As I've been thinking about it, I've been reminded me of a blog post I read a couple of years ago. It's not on-line any longer where it was, but thankfully, there's the Internet Archive. Here's the archived blog post:
Headed to Uganda
For those of us who work in technology, we tend to have it good, real good. We usually are at the upper end of the pay scale and we're typically talking about tinkering with new technologies and debating the merits of that technology. We don't think about things like "power and hot water" because we accept those as givens in our lives. It typically takes something sudden and dramatic to help us realize once again that not everyone has it like we do. And that we can do something about it. You don't have to be like Johnny Long and go out to Africa for a year with the family. If that's what you feel compelled to do, then by all means, do it, but there's plenty to be done all around us. For instance, consider that here in the United States, a recent report cited that 1 in 50 (2%) children are homeless each year.
And it's not just about money, either. I was thinking about that while watching the homerun hitting competition at the all-star game. That was a lot of money that was donated. But more often than not, people are needed. What we did at BSYC didn't require a lot of money. But to reach those kids we ministered to, to show them they mattered, that required people. I had a great group of youth that cared and extended their love through the ministry. To them I'll be eternally grateful. So if money isn't something you have in abundance right now, perhaps you can spare some time. The personal touch often means a whole lot more than a couple of dollars thrown someone's way.
And with that, I'll get off my soapbox.
We had my organization's semi-annual combined IT and financial meeting this morning. At the end of these meetings awards and certifications are announced. I had earned an award but I wasn't recognized. I'm a bit disappointed, and I can understand why, but I also know that I shouldn't be. Oversights happen and the things I did to earn the award in question I did because I wanted to do them, not because of the award itself. I enjoyed doing those things and in my mind that should be reward enough. So I'm struggling with myself over the fact that I am disappointed.
To put things in perspective, I'm disappointed about not having my name called whereas the guy who was sitting next to me will likely have to pull an all-nighter to facilitate a customer migration to new servers. And this is after he was up working until 1 AM this morning prepping for the move that will happen tonight. Not only that guy, but two other guys I know will be working like crazy. With that sort of reference point, not having my name called is a really silly reason to be sad.
This got me to thinking about how often we let emotions drive us. Some emotion is good. We should feel passionate about what we are doing. I was passionate about doing those things which earned me the award in the first place. That's emotion. I think if we're using emotion to motivate us to do better, that's fine. But when emotion holds us back from our best, that's a different story entirely. I have had a little talk with myself about how it won't help to be disappointed and that if I were in the same position and there was no award, I still would have done those same things and enjoyed doing them.
It also made me realize that I do wish I had a local mentor to talk to, someone I could pull aside to help me see things in their proper perspective. I was able to see things as they are and make corrections, but that's not always going to happen. Andy Warren has written a lot on mentoring and it has spurred my thinking about the importance of mentors, especially lately. I think that's one thing great mentors are able to do: help folks see things in the proper perspective. In IT our work is so involved and it can consume us. So we can lost perspective on its importance in our life. Likewise, we can have situations like mine today. And we can react wrongly and let affect our actions, our mood, our life. There's no real reason to let that continue. But sometimes it really takes another person, someone we trust and someone we know who's looking to help us grow, to get that through our heads.
Shortly after the Zune debuted, I purchased one. And I've been happy with it. It's done everything I expected out of a music/video player and it's gone with me nearly everywhere. So I was a bit saddened to pull it out this morning and see that the screen had been cracked. Not the external glass, but the internal LED screen. It's been a few days since I've used it. I believe the last time was right before SQL Saturday in Atlanta. It had gotten tossed in one of my laptop bags, one with plenty of padding, but it looks like a sharp impact to the screen still occured. I'm not sure if it occurred while it was in that bag or some other time. Though it still plays, I can't read a single thing on the screen, renduring the Zune unusable.
This morning I thought about what to replace it with and got a few bits of feedback from some folks on Twitter and on Facebook, but it'll be probably a month or so before I do replace it. There's a very good reason for the delay: it's not budgeted and I don't have money saved up for its purchase. The excess money we had saved up went towards a planned purchase of a MacBook about two weeks ago. In considering how I've used it over the last few months, I've realized that it's not essential for me to have a new Zune or iPod or other mp3 player. I have a PSP which mostly collects dust and for the purposes of carrying portable music and some podcasts, it'll do. I could go ahead and purchase a new player and throw it on a credit card, but like I say, it's not budgeted and the money hasn't been saved up and set aside for it. Purchasing on credit is not something I want to do for something that isn't absolutely essential.
This got me to thinking about projects and resources and how they get allocated. We all what resources and focus on the things we care about the most. For me, that has usually been the security side of things and now it's ensuring that we get good code that performs well against the databases I support. But there are a lot of things that need to be done to bring a project to completion and sometimes you have to compromise in certain areas to get to the finish line. This means sometimes not having the resources to crank every bit of performance out of each and every stored procedure and data access code. Often the resources that would do that are busy working on bugfixes or supporting the implementation of those bugfixes. And that means that stored procedure code base which is performing okay is left at performing just okay.
When I have served as a project manager, I have understood this dynamic and accepted it. It's part of the trade-offs you have to make to ensure resources are assigned to the proper areas to complete the project. But as a technician I've realized sometimes that I have a very myopic view of an application or project. Of course I want the stuff that's important to me fixed first. However, in the grand scheme of things those things may not be of the highest priority. But I'm only seeing the things that impact me. I'm not taking a step back and getting the bigger picture. And sometimes I've made a big deal out of it. And some of those times the PM doesn't take the step back either and assigns the resources to my priorities when he or she shouldn't. It's the same as buying a new mp3 player on credit.
As technicians, when there isn't enough resources available to complete all the wants for a project, it's time for us to take a step back. We need to try and understand where our needs fall within the other needs of the project. Does our needs truly deserve priority? If they do, then we should detail why in very clear language that explains the impact of not getting to what we want to see accomplished. There is a great temptation to exaggerate a bit, but that doesn't serve us well. We may get priority on this project, but what about the next one? If we've exaggerated the impact and that is seen, then the assumption is going to be that we always exaggerate our issues. We'll become like The Boy Who Cried Wolf. And that story didn't end well.
Maybe our issues don't get resolved by the end of the project. But if they are legitimate and we've documented them well, then our organization knows about them. Hopefully they don't get forgotten about. If our write-ups were well done and the project had the right visibility, they won't be forgotten. And they'll eventually get the resources needed to solve the issues, if those issues show themselves to be painful enough. That's like saving up and buying the mp3 player when the resources are available. We don't overextend the organization or burn credit we shouldn't for something that isn't absolutely critical. All around, it's the smarter choice.
I'm finally getting around to answering this one originated by Chris Shaw (@SQLShaw), as I was tagged by Jack Corbett (@unclebiguns) earlier. In addition, Chuck Boyce (@chuckboycejr) tagged me on Friday, so I figured I had better offer some response or fall off the "SQL hotness" chart, as defined by Kendall Van Dyke (@SQLDBA).
Who has been a great leader in your career and what made them a great leader?
I'm going to come at this from a completely different angle from most of the DBA crew. I'm going to pick my first tactical officer at The Citadel, (then) Capt. Stack, United States Army. Capt. Stack had the credentials. He was Airborne. Ranger. Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB). But there are a lot of folks walking around with these awards who aren't great leaders. So let me tell you about why Capt. Stack was to me.
He Was Always Around
This was what we first saw. Even as a fresh little knobbie (freshman at The Citadel), Capt. Stack was around, and around a lot. Subsequent "tac." officers were, too, but for whatever reason, they didn't carry the presence of Capt. Stack. And they were good men. But it seemed like every time we turned around, Capt. Stack was around. He made sure we knew he was going to be around. Not because he was trying to scare us or intimidate us, but because he had understood a very important principle about leadership: your troops need to see you. They need to be able to talk with you. They need to know you care. Capt. Stack knew each one of us. He remembered details. We knew we mattered to him. This was a combat veteran who could have looked at the job as babysitting a group of college, granted military college, kids, but he didn't treat us that way. Whether it was walking around the barracks or accompanying us on P.T. runs or being present when we received awards, Capt. Stack was there.
I've tried to do the same thing. When I was in the military, I made a point of stopping by and talking at least 5-10 minutes each day with my charges. When things were going on in their lives, they knew they could talk to me. If I could help, I would. If I couldn't, I would try and find the person who could. I can remember getting really ticked off at my leadership because my NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge) was graduating from a school down in Keelser and no one was going down to see him graduate. They "didn't have the time." So I demanded the day to drive down there, see his graduation, and then drive back. That drive is exactly 233 miles one way (or it was before before Katrina destroyed the roads and bridges). I know, because I drove it every weekend I was in tech school. It was a LONG day. I left out about 6 AM (meaning I got up about 5 AM) and got home about 9 PM that night. But he was one of mine. And I was going to be there for him. I had been taught that by Capt. Stack.
He Was Fair
The Citadel barracks have been rebuilt since my time there, but I lived in Padgett-Thomas barracks, the first one constructed when The Citadel moved to the banks of the Ashley River in 1922. To say it had problems is an understatement. That's what you get when you have a building that old trying to house five companies of insane college men in a military system. I remember standing my first Saturday Morning Inspection (SMI) at The Citadel. Something happened and the Citadel physical plant crew had to go into one of our walls just two days before. My roommate and I spent all Friday night and into Saturday morning trying to clean up the plaster dust, and whatever else had fallen out of the wall. It was still a gaping hole on Saturday morning and it seemed like any time someone slammed a door in the barracks (which happened a lot), a puff of dust came out of the hole. We figured that we were going to get dogged for our first SMI. Demerits, getting yelled out by our sergeants and corporals, doing push ups until our arms gave out, the whole nine yards. But doing SMI that morning was Capt. Stack. He walked into our barracks room, looked at the dust, glanced to his left and saw the hole, and said, "There's not a whole lot you can do with that," motioning over to the hole. With that said, he looked to my company commander, first sergeant, platoon sergeant, and platoon commander and said, "Let's go see the next room."
At The Citadel you often take the consequences even for circumstances beyond your control. That's part of dealing with life and the military system. Combat isn't fair. And The Citadel reinforces that simple fact by putting cadets in what others would describe as unfair situations. We understand (although maybe after we graduate) that it is all part of the training to prepare us for life and for the potential of going into combat. When the enemy outnumbers you and the bullets start flying, you can't beg out of the firefight by saying, "This isn't fair!" But I think Capt. Stack could see my roommate and I were exhausted. He probably could figure out that we had been up all night trying to get our room in shape. And he showed us understanding, as if it say, "You did everything you could have done in a bad situation. I'm not going to punish you any more than you've already suffered." I remember that day well. My roommate and I talked about it after SMI was over. We had respected Capt. Stack before. But after that day, he could have asked us to do anything and we would have, without hesitation.
When I've been assigned personnel, whether at The Citadel as a cadet NCO or officer, or in the military as the officer in charge, or as an infrastructure architect and team lead, I've tried to be fair. If someone has had a new baby, I try to reassign tasks to others to help that person out. If someone isn't pulling their weight, I pull them aside privately and have a talk with them. I try to understand the circumstances and apply that knowledge to the situation. I learned that from Capt. Stack.
He Was Calm
Capt. Stack was one of the calmest men I've ever met. Don't get me wrong. He could get fired up in order to motivate you to finish the last part of a PT run stronger than when you started. And he could get after you when you were in the wrong. But otherwise, he seemed unshakeable. When there was busyness and confusion and chaos, there was Capt. Stack as a bastion of calmness and order. I've since learned that as a leader you could be just as worried or confused as your troops. But you must exude a calmness. You must be able to think clearly and efficiently and then give orders and act accordingly. You must bring yourself under control so those around you will see your example and begin to follow it. This takes a great deal of effort. For some, this takes repeated practice and actual experience. This is an area I still need to work on. I'm nowhere close to how Capt. Stack was.
He Knew His Profession
Capt. Stack had the badges and awards. That says a lot, but you can run into those folks who have a bunch of awards but you can't figure out how they got them. Not so with Capt. Stack. You could tell after a brief conversation he knew his profession. He was a soldier. And he knew the fine details. As a tac. officer he knew how the cadet uniform was to be worn, the exact arrangement of the full and half presses, what was allowed in a room and what wasn't. He could have relied on the cadets that inspected alongside of him, but he didn't need to. To be an effective infantry officer he didn't need to know that information. But to be an effective tac. he did. And so I learned that whatever my job is, whether or not it's what I see my future to be, I need to learn it to the best of my ability.
With the holidays about over, I'm catching up on my RSS feed reading. This is an article from the beginning of December from Joel Spolsky. In it he talks about his brand of servant leadership and how he learned it:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20081201/how-hard-could-it-be-my-style-of-servant-leadership.html?partner=fogcreek
He makes this point on page 2:
Getting glare off the computer monitors so that people can write code actually is my highest priority.
As a leader, sometimes the best thing you can do is clear out all the minutae so the folks who work for you can get the job done. Actually, this is the case almost all of the time. That's the mission at Fog Creek: to write selling software. So if it takes him hanging blinds to get the mission done, that's the right call.
The type of leadership Spolsky describes in a lot of ways matches the way I was taught to be a leader:
The last one probably bears a little explanation. It isn't just about title and responsibility. It's also about tools and training and confidence and experience. Case in point: don't expect a person who's never done a difficult task before to succeed with flying colors. Prepare them with smaller tasks that build up their experience, confidence, and ability first.
Another diabolical idea of Chris Shaw. I'm actually late to the game because I got tagged a week ago by Jason Massie.
The Questions for this quiz… What are the largest challenges that you have faced in your career and how did you overcome those?
Challenge #1: Taking Care of My Troops
I was a first lieutenant in the USAF. Had been in about 3 years. My dad is a retired Marine GySgt. My uncle is a retired Marine MSgt. As a kid I grew up around Marine enlisted personnel. And one of the things I learned is you take care of your troops. Yes, the mission is always #1. But your troops had better be a close #2. One of my airmen had recently welcomed home a new baby. But his wife was in a lot of pain and they suspected she had gotten an infection after giving birth. The problem was he had to go through the military health care system. And they were blowing him off because he was a junior enlisted guy. I listened to him for the better part of a day and a half to get seen. He had been to ambulatory care and they wouldn't see his wife. Back and forth passing the buck between the military and the civilian doctors meant this airman's wife was getting no treatment. Finally I had enough.
The military hospital was on the other side of town because we were a split base. I told my airman to get his wife and I'd meet him at the hospital. It was late in the afternoon, most doctors came in as captains, so I really didn't know what I'd do, but based on what I had been taught by my family and by The Citadel, I had a responsibility to this man and his family. I figured I would get over there, see what was going on, then call a major I knew from my Bible study group as to what to do next. Not much of a plan, I admit.
We met up at the hospital and we walked around to ambulatory care. And we happened to chance upon a card game being played by the orderlies, the same orderlies who had refused to see him before. Oops. That was my in. Given they were enlisted and I was an officer, I immediately pulled rank. Something to the effect of, "Since you guys have enough to play cards, you've got enough time to take care of my airman's wife. Right?" as I looked right at the cards. He and his wife were taken back immediately. And as it turned out, the military referred it out immediately because it was an infection that was far worse than it should have been.
Challenge #2: Lost Tickets
Shortly after I got out of the USAF, I went to work with BellSouth Advertising and Publishing Company (the phonebook portion of the org) as a contract system administrator. We had this helpdesk ticket system that left a lot to be desired. The GUI interface we had allowed us to see the tickets that were currently in our queue at Columbia. But trying to find tickets that had originated out of Columbia but were assigned to another group was a real problem. The search functionality left a lot to be desired. What would happen is one of the employees would call a problem in to the help desk and it would soon get assigned to one of the groups in Atlanta. In some case we never even saw the ticket. And about two weeks later we'd have a user calling us asking what the status was. We were not pleased.
So I spent time figuring out how the help desk software worked. I reasoned it was serviced by a database back-end... but which one and what was the login? The laptop I was issued had been drop-shipped to me with an image already on it. Help desk software was pre-configured before I ever got it. But I spent some time poking around the config and figured out it was connecting to a SQL Server back-end. Now, to log in to the help desk software, I had to type a username and password combo that was different from my Windows one. This smacked of a SQL Server login. Sure enough, that was the case. It happened to be a SQL Server 6.5 box and I had a legitimate login to connect. About half a day poking through the schema and I had figured out how the ticketing system worked. The information to track tickets originating from Columbia was there. Two days later we had an ASP-based web site that allowed us to find every ticket. We found tickets going back two years and started sending emails to the appropriate groups asking what the status was and why they weren't closed. Amazingly enough, we got a lot of surprised responses and suddenly groups were working on our tickets.
