Doing the Right Thing

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Doing the Right Thing

Kathi Kellenberger

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Points: 11811
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January 26, 2019 at 11:56 am

#381269

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Doing the Right Thing
Aunt Kathi Data Platform MVP
Author of Expert T-SQL Window Functions
Simple-Talk Editor

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Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1003853 More actions · Answer 1

Great article and thoughts, Kathi.

One time after making a really big goof, I thought I was going to catch no end of being yelled at. Still, it was important that my boss know the mistake I made and what I was doing to fix it so that he wouldn't also get into trouble. To make a much longer story shorter, my boss liked my plan for fixing the problem I created but I continued to apologize. He told me to stop and said "Look... if you never make a mistake, it means that I'm not pushing you hard enough. You've done well in the past and I wondered when you'd finally make a mistake. Do you need any help fixing it?"

I was gob smacked at his understanding.

That should also be a lesson to some bosses especially if they have folks "living on the edge" for getting things done as fast as possible. It's an old Navy saying... Don't let one "aw-shit" wipe out a thousand "atta-boys". Embrace the absolute honesty and integrity of the person who just put their head on the proverbial chopping block for you.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Kathi Kellenberger SSChampion Points: 11811 More actions · Answer 2

Exactly!

Aunt Kathi Data Platform MVP
Author of Expert T-SQL Window Functions
Simple-Talk Editor

jay-h SSCoach Points: 18816 More actions · Answer 3

Interesting take on the walkway discussion.

I remember reading about a new campus which intentionally did not create walkways at first. They let the travel paths grow dynamically, and eventually built walkways along the naturally chosen paths.

The small post office in my town decided (for some odd reason) that the path people took from the parking lot to the door was verbotten. They even put up a small link fence to force people to walk an 'unnatural' way. After a couple of years, the fence came down.

...

-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --

Geoff.Sturdy Ten Centuries Points: 1234 More actions · Answer 4

So what did I learn today from this post ? absolutely nothing about SQL server , and it that doesn't take a preacher to preach .

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1003853 More actions · Answer 5

Geoff.Sturdy - Monday, January 28, 2019 8:21 AM
So what did I learn today from this post ? absolutely nothing about SQL server , and it that doesn't take a preacher to preach .

Funny... looking back at your posts, I don't see much that teaches about SQL Server.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

x SSC-Insane Points: 23660 More actions · Answer 6

Jeff Moden - Monday, January 28, 2019 9:30 AM
Geoff.Sturdy - Monday, January 28, 2019 8:21 AM
So what did I learn today from this post ? absolutely nothing about SQL server , and it that doesn't take a preacher to preach .
Funny... looking back at your posts, I don't see much that teaches about SQL Server.

I likewise didn't like the editorial, heck its even on a favorite topic of mine about problems with software mistakes. I also disliked Jeff's reply about his boss.

dstrickrott SSCommitted Points: 1951 More actions · Answer 7

The topic "Doing the Right Thing" falls under "Ethics" which falls under "Careers". Without ethics, companies would become very difficult places to work in. I think we can all agree we want to work with ethical companies, and part of that is employees / people choosing to do the right thing at work.

Look at the "Related Articles" section to the right of this editorial and you'll find similar posts by Steve and others that aren't directly about SQL Server but affect all of us database professionals.

x SSC-Insane Points: 23660 More actions · Answer 8

dstrickrott - Monday, January 28, 2019 1:22 PM
The topic "Doing the Right Thing" falls under "Ethics" which falls under "Careers". Without ethics, companies would become very difficult places to work in. I think we can all agree we want to work with ethical companies, and part of that is employees / people choosing to do the right thing at work.
Look at the "Related Articles" section to the right of this editorial and you'll find similar posts by Steve and others that aren't directly about SQL Server but affect all of us database professionals.

Heck, I've disliked some technical posts here that were directly topical to database work. I remember one fellow who's name I will mercifully omit, the guy said I should have my users enter thousands of records because HE couldn't define a function over a pair of weekdays. Boy I didn't like those posts one bit, but hey! here's a topical snippit of that situation that IS related to this editorial, the thread got unnecessarily extended because he and his pals could NOT ADMIT TO THEIR MISTAKES. Now THAT situation would merit an editorial worth reading!!!

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1003853 More actions · Answer 9

patrickmcginnis59 10839 - Monday, January 28, 2019 12:57 PM
Jeff Moden - Monday, January 28, 2019 9:30 AM
Geoff.Sturdy - Monday, January 28, 2019 8:21 AM
So what did I learn today from this post ? absolutely nothing about SQL server , and it that doesn't take a preacher to preach .
Funny... looking back at your posts, I don't see much that teaches about SQL Server.
I likewise didn't like the editorial, heck its even on a favorite topic of mine about problems with software mistakes. I also disliked Jeff's reply about his boss.

I'm just curious especially since it's on a favorite topic of yours... what is it that didn't you like about the editorial?

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Kathi Kellenberger SSChampion Points: 11811 More actions · Answer 10

jay-h - Monday, January 28, 2019 7:33 AM
Interesting take on the walkway discussion.
I remember reading about a new campus which intentionally did not create walkways at first. They let the travel paths grow dynamically, and eventually built walkways along the naturally chosen paths.
The small post office in my town decided (for some odd reason) that the path people took from the parking lot to the door was verbotten. They even put up a small link fence to force people to walk an 'unnatural' way. After a couple of years, the fence came down.

That's a great idea!

Aunt Kathi Data Platform MVP
Author of Expert T-SQL Window Functions
Simple-Talk Editor

Sean Lange SSC Guru Points: 286573 More actions · Answer 11

jay-h - Monday, January 28, 2019 7:33 AM
Interesting take on the walkway discussion.
I remember reading about a new campus which intentionally did not create walkways at first. They let the travel paths grow dynamically, and eventually built walkways along the naturally chosen paths.
The small post office in my town decided (for some odd reason) that the path people took from the parking lot to the door was verbotten. They even put up a small link fence to force people to walk an 'unnatural' way. After a couple of years, the fence came down.

There have been several colleges take that approach. One I heard about is UNC. The did a major overhaul of the campus in the late 60s - early 70s and did not install any sidewalks for a year.

_______________________________________________________________

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Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398679 More actions · Answer 12

Geoff.Sturdy - Monday, January 28, 2019 8:21 AM
So what did I learn today from this post ? absolutely nothing about SQL server , and it that doesn't take a preacher to preach .

It's an editorial. They're not usually lessons about SQL Server (although they can be). A lot of my editorials are also life lessons, thoughts about history, stuff like that. There's more to the job than just the tech. We really do have to learn and practice being better people to become better at our jobs. This is because our jobs are not done in isolation. The old saw that DBAs should be treated like mushrooms, kept in a dark room and fed ****, is garbage. It's always been a cooperative, interactive, people-oriented job. That requires people skills, which have to be worked on with equal fervor to learning how to test backups.

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt

Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398679 More actions · Answer 13

jay-h - Monday, January 28, 2019 7:33 AM
Interesting take on the walkway discussion.
I remember reading about a new campus which intentionally did not create walkways at first. They let the travel paths grow dynamically, and eventually built walkways along the naturally chosen paths.
The small post office in my town decided (for some odd reason) that the path people took from the parking lot to the door was verbotten. They even put up a small link fence to force people to walk an 'unnatural' way. After a couple of years, the fence came down.

Many years ago I read about a university that looked at all the dirt paths and then ripped up the existing sidewalks and paved the paths. WIN! Until the students very carefully started only walking on where the old paved paths were.... D'oh!

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt

Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

x SSC-Insane Points: 23660 More actions · Answer 14

Jeff Moden - Tuesday, January 29, 2019 7:09 AM
I'm just curious especially since it's on a favorite topic of yours... what is it that didn't you like about the editorial?

I didn't learn anything about technological mistakes from the editorial. Pretty much just agreeing with Geoff with the additional caveat that I would have been really interested reading about mistakes that were generalized to IT and technology even if not specific to SQL server. Even with themes of personal qualities, all I get is suggestions to be a better person, but isn't that sort of preaching like Geoff says? Don't people commonly want to be better? What about the people who don't? Is this editorial going to change their minds?

I myself have posted content that other people didn't like. It happens and I read about it from post responses. How about lets cowboy up and appreciate people care enough to mention their disappointment and hope for better things in the future. If all you guys want is cheerleading and rainbows out of everybody's rear bumpers, message Steve and I'm sure he'll accommodate you, maybe by removing some posts to ensure the internet measures up to your lofty standards.