Muddle Through

  • Rod at work - Thursday, February 15, 2018 9:44 AM

    Good editorial, Steve. There's one thing I'd like to suggestion and an observation I'd like to add.

    First, I suggest that if someone asks you a question you don't know the answer to, admit it up front but say you can find the answer and get back to them.

    That's how I approach it. I always explain I don't know it, but I will figure it out. It's actually how I landed my job that I am in today and I just hit my 5-year anniversary yesterday. Someone had a data problem, I was not the expert, but I would hire someone who is and learn it so you can keep me on.

    My latest muddling is going to be pretty much Azure for the past year. Been a ride thus far exploring all the different services and trying to understand how to string them all together. It's been a ride and pretty fun.

  • Aaron N. Cutshall - Thursday, February 15, 2018 8:24 AM

    chrisn-585491 - Thursday, February 15, 2018 8:09 AM

    It's muddles all the way down... 😀

    I automated myself out of a job once with 2 DCL scripts on the company VAXen...

    I once substituted for a migration manager who was on maternity leave.  I automated her very manual processes with a few DCL scripts and simplified the process greatly and freed me up to do other things instead.  When she returned she was furious because I took a job that only she could do into one that anyone could do and it toppled her position of power.

    Sounds like a person i replaced once.  The main problem was people had had this expectation to  'go to Jane' for certain things that i automated completely with notifications so i didn't have to remember to do a bunch of repetitive manual stuff every month.  Eventually they warmed to my way of doing things because it was faster, more reliable, and just worked.

  • xsevensinzx - Friday, February 16, 2018 6:09 AM

    Rod at work - Thursday, February 15, 2018 9:44 AM

    Good editorial, Steve. There's one thing I'd like to suggestion and an observation I'd like to add.

    First, I suggest that if someone asks you a question you don't know the answer to, admit it up front but say you can find the answer and get back to them.

    That's how I approach it. I always explain I don't know it, but I will figure it out. It's actually how I landed my job that I am in today and I just hit my 5-year anniversary yesterday. Someone had a data problem, I was not the expert, but I would hire someone who is and learn it so you can keep me on.

    My latest muddling is going to be pretty much Azure for the past year. Been a ride thus far exploring all the different services and trying to understand how to string them all together. It's been a ride and pretty fun.

    Very interesting. I've dabbled with Azure, but haven't gotten serious about it. Coincidentally yesterday I was taking a look at different opportunities with my previous employer. I was 2 positions there that require experience with either AWS or Azure. Guess its time to do as you've done and get serious about learning Azure, especially as you put it the different services and how to tie them together.

    Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.

  • Rod at work - Friday, February 16, 2018 8:08 AM

    xsevensinzx - Friday, February 16, 2018 6:09 AM

    Rod at work - Thursday, February 15, 2018 9:44 AM

    Good editorial, Steve. There's one thing I'd like to suggestion and an observation I'd like to add.

    First, I suggest that if someone asks you a question you don't know the answer to, admit it up front but say you can find the answer and get back to them.

    That's how I approach it. I always explain I don't know it, but I will figure it out. It's actually how I landed my job that I am in today and I just hit my 5-year anniversary yesterday. Someone had a data problem, I was not the expert, but I would hire someone who is and learn it so you can keep me on.

    My latest muddling is going to be pretty much Azure for the past year. Been a ride thus far exploring all the different services and trying to understand how to string them all together. It's been a ride and pretty fun.

    Very interesting. I've dabbled with Azure, but haven't gotten serious about it. Coincidentally yesterday I was taking a look at different opportunities with my previous employer. I was 2 positions there that require experience with either AWS or Azure. Guess its time to do as you've done and get serious about learning Azure, especially as you put it the different services and how to tie them together.

    Yep, I got a bit lucky though. I work with a large company that has it already, but we are still on-prem too. There was also a business problem of having to store billions of raw structured records in a way where we could easily perform ad-hoc analysis on it. Services like Azure Data Warehouse and so forth were good to explore with those business needs along with having the flexibility to scale up and down without conflict.

    Luckily, we live in a time where documentation/resources are widely available online and in the bookstores.

  • Aaron N. Cutshall - Thursday, February 15, 2018 8:24 AM

    I once substituted for a migration manager who was on maternity leave.  I automated her very manual processes with a few DCL scripts and simplified the process greatly and freed me up to do other things instead.  When she returned she was furious because I took a job that only she could do into one that anyone could do and it toppled her position of power.

    I had a slightly different experience.  I once had a boss give me stuff to work on when he was on vacation.  It didn't take me long to know I didn't want to do the manual work he was doing, so I automated what I could.  When he got back, he happily said, "I knew if I handed it over to you, you'd automate it."

  • I've been in this position as well. People give me stuff because they know I'll do it better, even if it's outside my area. Automated some staff termination stuff to archive and move data for the Exchange crew one time.

  • Aaron N. Cutshall - Thursday, February 15, 2018 8:24 AM

    chrisn-585491 - Thursday, February 15, 2018 8:09 AM

    It's muddles all the way down... 😀

    I automated myself out of a job once with 2 DCL scripts on the company VAXen...

    I once substituted for a migration manager who was on maternity leave.  I automated her very manual processes with a few DCL scripts and simplified the process greatly and freed me up to do other things instead.  When she returned she was furious because I took a job that only she could do into one that anyone could do and it toppled her position of power.

    These folks who delude themselves into thinking they are indispensable and monopolize their little corner of the IT department like a small-time mob boss; over the years I've seen them get canned during a layoff many times.

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

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