What motivates you?
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Thomas Edison said "Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration." (Edison was a renowned workaholic... in competition most of his career with another type of genius, Nikola Tesla...)
Is this accurate in modern IT? If so, what motivates you to put forth that 90%?
Is it money? fame? the rush that accompanies watching your efforts execute in Production?
I've created this thread for responses to a corresponding blog post.
:{> Andy
Andy Leonard, Chief Data Engineer, Enterprise Data & Analytics
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Recognition, visible results, the desire to fund a decent mid-life crisis.
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Edison was actually more emphatic than this:
"Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration. Accordingly, a 'genius' is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework."
I ask myself every day why I do it. It's the cash. If I had it, I'd play electric guitar all of the time!
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence
- Martin Rees
The absence of consumable DDL, sample data and desired results is, however, evidence of the absence of my response
- Phil Parkin -
My faith does. When I tell folks that, some look at me funny. However, if I "do all things as unto the Lord," then that sets the standard for my performance. Don't get me wrong, getting paid well and getting recognized are things I do appreciate. However, at the end of the day, even if those things weren't forthcoming I'd still ask myself whether or not I gave my best effort.
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley -
Creating useful stuff, programs and databases that actually help people do their job, not just pretty stuff.
Diane
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Doing something useful that has a tangible impact is always a plus. Typically designing the middle/back-end processes that do something is enjoyable over the UI.
Automating of regular processes - not having to perform something manually on a regular basis.
Finding a better way to do something whether through new technology or just tweaking something existing.
Of course, the pay goes almost without saying. While I enjoy doing this, getting paid to do it sure helps. 🙂
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I'd have to agree with that. Nothing better than a user saying how easy xyz job is now they have application abc.
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Colt 45 - the original point and click interface
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My father always said:
E=MCC
Enthusiasm to work = Motivation X Cash X Compliments
Motivation is if you find the work challenging and interesting.
Cash can be subsituted for Reward of some description for the work.
Compliments is recognition for the work.
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I do a lot of query optimisation at the moment.
I love the feeling that accompanies getting a 5 minute query run in 5 seconds
The odd occation when a user says something like 'Wow, this is running so fast now'
What I hate is developers who don't care. "Yes, I know it's going to run for 10 minutes, do a couple million reads and send the CPU to 100% for the duration, but it's ok cause it only runs once a day"
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverabilityWe walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass -
My two cents! I was never impressed with Edison, Tesla was much more interesting. I would venture to say Tesla was probably the real genius, Edison made useful the ideas. Much like today, UNIX and Apple the genius, Microsoft makes the ideas useful. Not that one is more important than the other.
Money is of course important, but I am happiest when I get in the zone, the ideas are flying so fast that I can't try them quickly enough, even with a quantum computer. And am motivated by the possibility of getting in the zone. But the greatest motivation is when a lovely lady tells you how wonderful you are, wife, girlfriend or colleague. Thanks ladies.
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doing something I enjoy to earn enough for myself and family to do other things we enjoy.
there's some stuff about wanting to be better all the time, being told I'm doing a good job and getting recognition too!!!
I'm primarily an out and out production dba with a speciality of performance and optimisation - the nerdy stuff!!! < grin >
[font="Comic Sans MS"]The GrumpyOldDBA[/font]
www.grumpyolddba.co.uk
http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/grumpyolddba/ -
Although I also am motivated by most of the things people have mentioned already, especially the desire to make useful things for people and improve tools, to help people do their job better and easier, when it comes down to it, like Brian, my primary motivation is my faith.
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