Today we have a guest editorial from Andy Warren as Steve is traveling.

The first days and weeks of a new job can be frustrating as you try to learn what is where and who is who, and then you get to the fun part – figuring out all the stuff that needs to be fixed and then fixing it.

Did I say fun?

Think about how many times you’ve walked into an environment that has incomplete or missing jobs for standard maintenance tasks. No backup to tape. Jobs that fail randomly. Slow queries, duplicate indexes, duplicate stats, orphaned users and dead logins. Business processes that are clunky. Probably some processes that are out of date or just plain missing documentation. We typically come up with a good sized to-do list in those first few weeks.

That list might be daunting, might make us groan at some of the things we find, but it’s a chance to do work that makes a difference and puts our own stamp on the environment. The first few months of a new hire also tend to be the time when the business is most open to changing things. It takes time to do some of the work. Some of the changes will have to be approved and discussed and scheduled, but eventually you’ll get the list done. Or as done as possible.

That’s fun isn’t it? You’ve fixed the problems and learned the systems, crossed off the things on your to-do list. Now what? Do you sit back and enjoy the order you’ve brought to chaos? Or do you make another sweep and try to drive the quality of the environment higher still? A little bit of both?

At some point you’ll have fixed the easy stuff and a lot of the harder stuff until you get to diminishing returns. Is that what you aspire to, or is that the point at which you get restless and start looking around for new challenges and even a new job? I don’t think there is a right answer, but understanding your answer might go a long way in helping you pick the right jobs and enjoy the jobs you pick.