In many small shops, the database guy and the applications guy are the same person. And he has no training for the database role he has to play. He has no idea what a data dictionary is, what Normal Forms are or anything else that he absolutely needs to know to do the job.

This simply has to stop. If management will not pay for training then it should pay for an outside consultant to set up the schema and look in on it from time to time.

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I find this comment strange from the standpoint of the following:

a. Treats all developers as DBA nincompoops.  

b. Exalts that every shop should have a dedicated DBA.  I've seen people handle both DBA and development roles quite well thank you.

c. This is just not reality for a lot of small firms.   Granted, they can't lose their data and every manager should do dilligence in verifying he can recover from a disaster; however, the truth is small firms run lean and leaner all the time.  That's not going to change in an environment where IT coding is outsourced and people are plied with more work than they can reasonably handle in a 60 hour week.