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Stuck in a Rut

  • October 29, 2014 at 4:04 am

    #300522

    Comments posted to this topic are about the item Stuck in a Rut

  • October 29, 2014 at 5:05 am

    #1755464

    Excellent post, Steve!

  • October 29, 2014 at 5:53 am

    #1755478

    If there is any slack then people should be looking at things they can improve. Sometimes this becomes key when you get management hearing buzzwords and asking "Why aren't we doing that?". We should all be able to answer (if within our field or related to it). It doesn't matter if one becomes a subject expert but at the minimum we should be able to field questions of applicability in our own environments.

    SSIS packages is a great example. If someone is working in an environment where everything is in DTS packages then, in my never humble opinion, they cannot justify claims of being bored and at the same time not have the knowledge of what it would take to upgrade to 2005(?) thereby requiring SSIS packages to be written.

    I have no problem with someone who is under a heavy workload not advancing their knowledge. Nor do I have a problem with someone who comes in to do their job and that's it. I do have a problem with people who complain that they are bored (or not busy enough) without looking or asking for a solution. If they are restricted from a reasonable solution e.g. if there is slack in their day and they are prohibited from wisely using that time then the problem lies with the work environment.

    Stuck in a rut can mean that they are bored of what they do but are not prepared to do anything for themselves. Happy to hear that over a pint (it's same as moaning about the home life one couldn't live without) but not in a serious work/career discussion.

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • October 29, 2014 at 6:47 am

    #1755500

    Nice post, Steve 🙂

    However, you wrote another editorial on August 19th, 2014, named "Artist or Scientist", which I really took to my heart!

    May I quote my favorite part?:

    While we need artists to push boundaries and experiment with new techniques, we don't want them managing production systems or writing production code. I want production code to use well known and proven techniques, best practices, good error handling, application of standards, logging and more. I want production systems to be stable, not with a lack of change, but with a lack of issues. I need scientists that produce work that can be counted on.

    There is basis for some good pondering here.. How to balance the companies' need for "scientists managing production systems" against the individual specialist's need for tuning his/hers own skill-set? Because in my opinion, this is exactly why many production systems tend to be a long string of "used-only-once" solutions bundled together - and so few specialists ever get to achieve knowledge of "best practise" before they move on to new areas/programs/tasks/etc.

  • October 29, 2014 at 7:28 am

    #1755513

    I'm stuck in a rut, but not bored. I have too many projects for the resources allotted.

  • October 29, 2014 at 8:06 am

    #1755528

    A nice post to be sure. I think we've all felt like we're stuck in a rut at one time or another. I find that I grow the most during the down time when there's no deadline looming or a crisis to deal with. This is when I get to revisit something I did recently and find a more efficient approach to it. I might even learn new things in the process. When I learn something new and have that "ah-hah" moment, I invariably find myself wishing I knew it 3 months ago when I did a certain task. That gives me a place to apply it.

    There's always going to be a new technique to explore or the need to make something more efficient.

    Tally Tables - Performance Personified
    String Splitting with True Performance
    Best practices on how to ask questions

  • October 29, 2014 at 8:09 am

    #1755530

    I know people sometimes bash certifications, but this is a big part of why I do them. They're a nice concise way of looking at the features of SQL Server that you may not use. Never in the depth you need, but still a good way to find new cool stuff. Without them I might have wondered about the XML features of SQL Server, but never know how much I really hate them 😀

  • October 29, 2014 at 8:57 am

    #1755544

    I didn't see any mention of baselining in your editorial.

    I'd also be aware of people in the organization who might drive the demand for new resources, and try to keep an eye out for what they are doing.

  • October 29, 2014 at 9:35 am

    #1755561

    CGSJohnson (10/29/2014)

    Excellent post, Steve!

    Thanks 😀

  • October 29, 2014 at 9:40 am

    #1755565

    hjp (10/29/2014)

    Nice post, Steve 🙂

    Tx

    ...

    There is basis for some good pondering here.. How to balance the companies' need for "scientists managing production systems" against the individual specialist's need for tuning his/hers own skill-set? Because in my opinion, this is exactly why many production systems tend to be a long string of "used-only-once" solutions bundled together - and so few specialists ever get to achieve knowledge of "best practise" before they move on to new areas/programs/tasks/etc.

    Production isn't the place to practice your skills. However you should be experimenting in small ways, in test/dev systems and when you find something that works well, think about putting it into production.

    However if it's a once used item, and you find better ways, perhaps you should be refactoring the old code, or be slower to move things into production and test them more. If you find that you aren't implementing best practices, but just the new trick you learned, you're doing it wrong.

    Note that learning more and trying new things to improve your knowledge doesn't mean you need to get each of them into production.

  • October 29, 2014 at 9:41 am

    #1755566

    Steven.Howes (10/29/2014)

    I know people sometimes bash certifications, but this is a big part of why I do them. They're a nice concise way of looking at the features of SQL Server that you may not use. Never in the depth you need, but still a good way to find new cool stuff. Without them I might have wondered about the XML features of SQL Server, but never know how much I really hate them 😀

    That's a great way to drive learning.

    nothing wrong with certs. What's wrong is using them as the sole, or the most important, judge of skills.

  • October 29, 2014 at 9:41 am

    #1755567

    Robert.Sterbal (10/29/2014)

    I didn't see any mention of baselining in your editorial.

    Not the topic I was discussing.

  • October 29, 2014 at 9:43 am

    #1755568

    You need a pic of yourself in this shirt Steve...

    [/url]

  • October 29, 2014 at 9:54 am

    #1755572

    Steven.Howes (10/29/2014)

    You need a pic of yourself in this shirt Steve...

    [/url]

    Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  • October 29, 2014 at 9:58 am

    #1755574

    Steve,

    You mentioned the following things a bored DBA could do when stuck in a rut:

    Why learn Biml

    build an SSIS package

    write running totals

    find gaps in data stream

    replication

    DR

    HA

    tune a query

    I was just adding baselining to that skill list

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