I'm enjoying a relaxing Saturday morning and I'm doing a bit of reading on ESPN. I see the article about Kobe reaching another scoring milestone and decide to give it a read. I'm admittedly a Lakers fan; I have been since I first watched Byron Scott knocking down outside shots. So naturally, I enjoy reading up on the Lakers and what their players are doing. It's a normal sports article talking about Kobe's scoring, and I begin to yawn, and then I see this:
Bryant visited Olajuwon over the summer to learn more about low-post play, and the Houston Rockets' famed center provided Kobe with even more skills to keep knocking down scoring marks.
Now that caught my attention. Here is a guy who just won the NBA championship... again. He's won a scoring title. He's considered the greatest closer in the game. Yes, even over Bron Bron. Don't believe me? go back and watch the end of the gold medal game against China. We were going to lose. And Kobe took over. Everybody, including Lebron, deferred to Kobe. And USA won. USA won because when Kobe gets that glint in his eye, nobody can stop him. He has too many offensive options. And if he happens to get hot as he's taking over a game? It's over and over in a hurry. He can beat you inside. He can beat you outside. He can beat in the low post or driving the paint. He can beat you when you're sleeping in your bed and he's two zones away watching Lionel Messi light it up on the pitch. So if anyone doesn't need to worry about his offensive game, it's Kobe. But Kobe obviously didn't rest on his laurels. He went and visited Hakeen "The Dream" Olajuwon to work on low-post play. Olajuwon had that post-up fade away jump shot no one could stop. He could up and under on a spin move that was equally unstoppable. It was all part of his "Dream Shake" package. And that's who Kobe went to learn from.
And that reminded me that I can never stop learning. There's always more to do. There's always more to understand. If Kobe can go to Olajuwon, I can go to the top folks in whatever field or endeavor I'm working on, whether it be SQL Server, the Bible, flute, cooking, chess, or something else. Speaking of chess, I'll end on another guy who hasn't stopped, Victor Korchnoi. At the age of 78 he won the Swiss Chess Championship. He continues to play well at grandmaster levels, despite his advanced age. That's an inspiration to keep pushing hard to grow and do better if there ever was one.
Given everything that has happened in the last couple of weeks, this is not surprising to those who have kept up with my family's most recent struggle. I had one more big decision to make from a professional side of things and that was whether or not to still attend and present at SQL Connections. With Kimberly's physical recovery time being at least two weeks, that was an easy decision to make. I will be staying at home, tending to my beloved bride, as she heals physically. The emotional healing for both of us is going to take much longer, but the warmth and love from our family, friends, church, and the wonderful SQL Server community has helped that process tremendously. Many of your comments have brought tears to our eyes as we have read them. Thank you.
One of the reasons I love our SQL Server community is because of the caring I've seen within it. It transcends a common love for a particular technology to manifest itself in compassion and caring for one another. And that makes me very glad and very humble to be a part of it. We have a truly great and wonderful community.
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
This past Saturday I was able to participate in the Carolina Code Camp, help just outside Charlotte, NC. I was there for the morning part, spending time with family in Charlotte for the afternoon. So let me go over both the good and the bad, starting with the bad first. There are lessons to be learned in the bad.
The Bad
Let me start by saying that the bad with CarCC had nothing to do with the Code Camp itself. They are just reminders for me as an individual. Hopefully, if they aren't things you've thought of, you can learn vicariously through my mistakes.
The first bad was not taking the time to email some folks beforehand to see if they were going and to try and connect with them before I got there. While code camps, SQL Saturdays, and conferences should be about learning, to a certan extent they should be about networking, too. For instance, ASP.NET MVP Chris Love (who I only know through Twitter) and SQL Server MVP Paul Nielsen were both at Carolina Code Camp. But I missed out on meeting them in person because I didn't get my ducks in a row ahead of time. I'll not make that mistake again. I also missed out on seeing Boyd Evert from the Charleston PASS Chapter and a couple of local developers I used to work with but who have moved on from AgFirst. Next time, I'll do better.
The second bad was not going through my checklist when I was done speaking. I was looking forward to hearing SQL Server MVP Alejandro Mesa present, and since we were in the same room (him right after me), I wanted to clear out the space to give him time to setup so he wouldn't be rushed. As a result, when I was packing my equipment back in my laptop bag, I left my power adapter on one of the tables there. I didn't realize it was missing until after I had gotten back home, almost 2 hours away from the venue, and long after the event had finished up. I ended up ordering a replacement from Dell Saturday night, but for the second order in a row, it looks like it has gotten lost in their system. I've filed a customer support ticket with them, haven't gotten anything back but the automated email, and I don't expect anything different than, "We're sorry, it's us, not you. Can you place the order again and cross your fingers it will actually go through this time?" So I'll probably be running down to an office supply store looking for a universal one because I'm quite fed up with Dell. I used to be a big fan, but the experiences I've had with them over the last two years means I'm likely done with them as a customer until I hear from peers that things have substantially improved.
The Good
The first was finally being able to hear Alejandro present. He's done some other venues, but I've always had a conflict. When you hear him talk and go through the topic, you understand why his presentations have been highly regarded. I enjoyed the talk immensely, learned a few new things, and enjoyed talking with him. If you haven't met Alejandro, you should. He's a humble guy that knows a ton, is very helpful, and cares about his craft and the community.
The second I was able to meet Jeff Schroeder, another active SQL Server type in the area. His presentation was at the same time as mine, but he came to Alejandro's, and we were able to talk a bit afterwards as a group. Jeff's another knowledgeable guy who has seen some interesting vendor packages and had to come up with creative solutions to attack the issues they cause. So I'm going to follow back up with Jeff, because he's a nice guy, knows his stuff, and brings a different perspective because of his experience that I could learn from.
The third was the venue, the Levine Campus at Central Piedmont Community College. They have a very nice setup that was very conducive to a code camp. I was very impressed with the facilities. I think Alejandro indicated they may be trying to do a SQL Server centric activity there, and the college has agreed to lend the space. Apparently there are some very good, community minded folks there in addition to the awesome setup. We would love to have similar access to facilities half that nice here in Columbia, SC.
The fourth good were some of the ideas that were bounced around in a very short time. Alejandro was making a comment about how hard it is to present on query tuning and optimization on an hour, because to understand what you're seeing, you've got to understand the theory. But to make any sort of headway is hard, because there's more than an hour of material in there. Alejandro was only focusing on plan caching and re-use. He said up front that he wasn't touching recompiles because there was simply no time. One of the things I thought about is having a deep dive track or two during the SQL Saturdays. Where you'd get a topic like query tuning and optimization for the morning and another deep dive in the afternoon, maybe on peformance tuning. I think it's something worth approaching Andy Warren about, so I probably will, especially when both Alejandro and Jeff seemed to think it was a good idea. Some topics just need more time.
So that wraps up my experience for Carolina Code Camp 2009. It was a great code camp and I'm looking forward to going back again next year. Hopefully, Midlands PASS will be able to help out in the organization of it in 2010. We'd certainly like to be included along with the .NET user groups.
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.
Jorge Segarra (@SQLChicken) has put together an idea to have on-line basic lessons on SQL Server called SQL University. The idea is to present two to three lessons each week in a somewhat academic manner, one that will hopefully encourage learning. It is targeted at the new or "accidental" SQL Server DBA. In this endeavor he has asked around for others in the community to pitch in and help. I've volunteered to take on Security Week (sounds like Shark Week, a nod to my friend and fellow SQL Server MVP, Frank Kalis, who loves sharks).
Jorge has already gotten the first week of lessons up. In addition, he should be making an annoucement soon as to some of the other faculty members as well as the athetic director so stay tuned here:
SQL University
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.”
Woo hoo! Charleston, SC is starting up a Professional Association for SQL Server official chapter. It is being started up by Boyd Evert. The site will be here:
Charleston PASS Site
Right now the sample site is still up as it just got turned on, but I expect that to change in the next week or so. I'll be down there for the October 8th meeting to present. So if you're from in and around Charleston, keep checking at the site as it gets updated. I'd love to meet any and all SQL Server types from my old stomping grounds.
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.
I'm reading through Brad McGehee's How to Be an Exceptional DBA and in chapter 4 he talks about having the right skill set. Brad starts right out of the gate talking about formal education. To be a DBA breaking in may be more difficult without a computer-related four year degree, but it can be done. One of the things Brad talks about is that he knows quite a few DBAs who don't have a traditional computer science or information technology degree. I'm one of those. My degrees are in physics and mathematics. And while that may be considered closer than say anthropology or theology, the fact of the matter is that even a computer science degree doesn't strictly prepare one to be DBA.
However, the facts don't lie. Statistics published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the trend is towards more jobs requiring at least a four year college degree. As a junior high youth minister, these types of facts are of interest to me, because one of the things I want to make sure of is that my junior high schoolers know this sort of information so they'll be able to make good choices in high school and hopefully later on in college. If you look at the bottom of page 4, you can see that while the education cluster of "some college" doesn't change in projections from 2006 to 2016, the other two categories do. The number of jobs for high school graduates or less is expected to drop by 1.1% and that number ends up going to bachelor's degree or above. When you consider new jobs as well, though, it swings a bit more in favor of the college degree.
Then I weigh in the experience some of my colleagues without a college degree have had. In a couple of cases, they weren't hired because they missed that "checklist" item. In a couple of other cases, while they were gainfully employed, they were offered a smaller salary because they didn't have the degree. I know of one case where the difference was several thousand dollars a year. So putting these types of situations together with the projections, what can we say? Well, we can't say that you have to have a degree. But what we can say is that if you don't have a degree, it'll be harder, simply because it'll be harder in general. And even if one does get the job, not having the degree may cost one a tangible amount in actual salary.
So if you don't have a four year degree, should you care? I look at a degree much like I do certification: having it can help, but not having it doesn't automatically mean you fail. With that said, I know a couple of friends who, in their thirties, have embarked on the quest to complete their bachelor's degree. While they may be very good at what they do, they want the degree. It may not be for the job. It may be completely for them, to say they accomplished it. And I think that's a better attitude than believing you have to have the degree. If you're doing it for you, the classes mean more to you and you put more into them. When you're just trying to get through them to get the sheepskin, then you do enough to get the grade you want, but the class itself isn't very meaningful. I learned that especially as a dual major once I chose to take coursework outside of my majors. These were classes I wanted to take because I was interested in the subject, not classes I was required to take to complete one of my majors. And I found that I was more willing to put in the time to learn the material. Case in point: I think my favorite class after four years of college was abnormal psychology. Closely on its heels was cognitive psychology. Neither of those were required for graduation. So I lean more towards they why. Why are you doing it? That should be taken into serious consideration before beginning the journey to complete a college degree, whether at the bachelor's level or higher.
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.
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.
