This is a very good article indeed. Something every new DBA or would-be DBA should read and take to heart.

The only thing that doesn't come across clearly is just how difficult it can sometimes be to follow those tips.

It really can be very difficult to do even one of deliver CIA, avoid being a hero, and set definable expectations (let alone do all three). This is especially true if being DBA is something you do in your (non-existent) spare time from your "real" job, more so if the head of development doesn't see why developers should pay any attention to a DBA, more so again if the CEO firmly believes that there's no real need for a DBA (and anyway even if he wanted a DBA he couldn't hire one because the company is a start-up and the burn rate is already far too high), and yet more so still if the CEO believes that he (despite never having used a database or written a line of code) is better at estimating the time and effort needed to do something technical than anyone with any technical knowledge could possibly be -all situations that many in this forum will have come across (although they'd have to be really unlucky to come across all those problems at the same time).

(edit to sort out some typos)