July 9, 2014 at 7:59 am
Literaly they call at 9PM instead of 1PM, apologize for the "confusion" and explained that our account manager said I would help them out. These people I am helping have trouble typing in a password correctly and do not know the difference between a table and a view.
.
Couldn't you just recommend a suitable course or study book that would help them gain the knowledge required?
Helpful and constructive without demanding too much of you?
July 9, 2014 at 8:17 am
Paying it forward... and IT Terrorists
I got my first paying job as and System\Network Admin back in the early days of 1995-1996. Like many I took the MCSE and thought I knew a lot. I quickly realized I needed more resources, and my boss didnt have a budget for me to attend training. Most of my 'training' came from people on forums, authors of websites, magazines and trade rags. This was all before WordPress and even before Google went public. Today I don't know any IT professional that could be effecient and effective without their peers in the community...whose knowledge and resources are usually being shared and accessed via Google (or for you others... Bing). Everything from blogs to magazines to websites searchable at your finger tips.
Seriously - can any of the 'Technical' professionals out thier imagine being banned from from finding solutions on Google, Bing, blogs, forums, and websites? Could you really stay as efficient and effective? I have to admit I find a lot more on the MSDN and Technet sites now than in years past. But the screenshots and techniques shared my fellow IT champions on the web are by far my favorite to review.
Over the last 18-19 years I have learned not only the importance of using the web as a resource but documenting **EVERYTHING** in my IT workplace. If your a 'lone admin' for a business, with no one to back you up, then you have a responsibility to document so if by chance you get hit by that 'proverbial bus' your office (and the lives of its employees) can keep running where you left off. If your not a 'lone admin' then document so you can pass on your knowledge so someone else can learn it, openign a spot for you climb the corporate ladder. Especially if want to go into Corporate IT Managnent some day - employees who show a proven track record of documenting are more like to be considered for higher paying management positions!. Some would disagree as they dont feel safe knowing that your basically setting yourself up to be replaced and giving\leaving your knowledgebase with that employeer. Almost over 2 decades now I have been more respected, and professionally appreciated, by not 'hoarding information', but sharing and communicating with those around me (some may have wished I shut up or insisted on less documentation). Documentation does come with a price - it adds time to whatever projeect your deploying. However as an 'IT' professional we have to keep recoverability in mind. If I get a call at 2am that a system I built 2, 5, 7 years ago is down, I'm not going to remember all the check boxes, custom *.config or * .XML or registry changes I made to fix or rebuild a system.
My advice to all in IT - It is more honorable to 'Document and Share' than to be seen as a conniving, selfish, immature, non-professioanl weasel that hoards info, that 'borrows\steals' others info. Yes that is how I really feel 😎 If you really want to rise to the top and have people want you, show them how good you are, show them why your a good resource, and why they should respect you. You earn respect and professional acumen - you dont dictate it by holding people and information hostage. Hmmm that make 'those people' sound like 'IT Terrorists" and cowards doesnt it!
July 9, 2014 at 8:19 am
I owe any/all success that I have had in the IT field to my ability to "look stuff up"
the.end.
July 9, 2014 at 9:06 am
Regarding the "stealing" ideas part.
If the person in question is building a business around a particular way of doing things then I could understand why they wouldn't want to share. We've been down this path with how our application (which is sold) works. I'm pretty active on stackoverflow and have run across many questions I could have answered but didn't simply because I wasn't sure how that information would ultimately be used.
That said, I'd willingly share how we do things as there are other barriers to entry in this space, if software patents just didn't exist.
In our time of being in business we've been blindsided a few times by the 800 pound gorillas - MS, Google, Oracle - getting away with patenting things that are not only completely obvious but also common practices that have been around for years. In two cases we had prior art going back years before the patents were even filed but the cost of trying to get the patents over turned far exceeded the costs of just changing our practices. Could we have filed for patents? Sure. I could have spent 10s of thousands of dollars patenting what should be obvious to anyone thinking about the problem space. From a business perspective, all future items are going that route. From a personal perspective I absolutely hate it.
Point is, as much as I loathe the response of the person who is unwilling to share their ideas I can completely 100% understand it. In today's world it's become dangerous to share knowledge as it may be used against you later.
July 9, 2014 at 9:17 am
SQLRNNR (7/9/2014)
Eric M Russell (7/9/2014)
That same day, I was talking with another DBA about if he might be interested in creating a presentation for an upcoming SQL Saturday, and his response was (paraphrased) "Why do I want to put the effort into that just to have someone steal my ideas from the slides?"
The whole point of a user group or SQLSaturday presentation is for the presenter to share ideas, most of which he "stole" from somewhere else. If the audience doesn't walk away with ("steal") a few new ideas, then the presentation was a waste of time.
Nice take on it. I agree that people should be able to take something away from it. It's part of the learning.
Jason, I think you hit the nail on the head. If you don't learn anything, why attend?
Personally, I've never presented, but I've thought about it. That whole public speaking thing...just not very good at it.
I post here because I find it rewarding to help others. It also makes me better at my job because I learn a lot while I'm here, both solving problems and reading how others solve problems.
July 9, 2014 at 9:18 am
batgirl (7/9/2014)
I owe any/all success that I have had in the IT field to my ability to "look stuff up"the.end.
Bravo! Seriously! I would give anything to work more with people that research first and document first.
Way too many people get mad at me when I send them a link to documentation.
Why is this considered insulting and not a favor? Am I supposed to let you get paid while I do your job and get nothing?
Sounds way too much like an antagonist from an Ayn Ryand Novel.
Once I was mail bombed a thousand times with the subject "Just write me the script b!tc#".
I added a script to a free website that moves around. It has been sending them a link to documentation 200 times a second for the last two years.
July 9, 2014 at 9:59 am
Andy, I appreciate the topic and your take on this. This issue needs to be openly discussed and worked through if one is to truly understand IT and the creativity within. For the most part, I agree that there is a huge need to share what you know and even in some cases what you think. However, there are some exceptions.
A number of years back I knew a young student in High School who developed a rather complex algorithm and started to put it through the proving process. As a young student, they did not know the extent that the idea should be protected or how prove it a factual approach to some interesting problems. They shared it with a math/logic instructor who found it interesting to a point and asked if they could share it with a friend. Not knowing the ramifications, permission was given.
In short the friend was a master’s candidate at MIT who the next spring received a certain level of notoriety for a new algorithm revolutionized some of the internal computer processing. The MIT Grad took credit and they did not recognize either the friend who gave it to him or to the young student who was actually the source of the entire thought.
Stealing is stealing and some things are very valuable. It would behoove those who believe that they really have something to take necessary precautions to protect, secure, or otherwise copyright parts of their work and not present it openly to "thieves" who are willing to become successful on the backs of others.
In addition, it is interesting to note that not all thieves are caught or found out. Some just get by with the entire charade.
Still I enjoy the discussion, and the thoughts of many.
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
July 9, 2014 at 10:20 am
Well that's certainly a cautionary tale, and relevant to our field. It is unlikely that anyone presenting at a sql saturday event would be talking about anything even remotely analogous, though -- we are talking about sharing knowledge and understanding that helps us do our jobs better.
Thieves as you describe sometimes get away with it. Sometimes they do it only once, and never again. But generally theft is a bad habit, not an aberrant impulse, and generally people get their comeuppance.
Creativity and special talent is also, generally, not an aberrant event but rather an attribute of a person, and the youngster you mention most likely went on to develop/invent other fine things. As s/he matured, probably they became wiser about what to share, and what not, and to be sensibly skeptical of people in positions of authority. So, while it is a 'sad' story, and it appears that the bad guy/gal 'won', let's not allow ourselves to get too pessimistic!
July 9, 2014 at 1:17 pm
It would be nice if you had asked that DBA why he was worried about others stealing his ideas. If you're working in an environment where others frequently show off with results they did not accomplish, then every day it becomes harder to share knowledge and ideas with them. If your colleagues down-vote your initiatives but present these as their own in a meeting with the boss, trusting no one is just a means of survival. I am curious about the motives of this DBA; assuming he (or she?) is simply suspicious or unwilling seems very shortsighted to me. If you've worked long enough is such an environment, even blogging and presenting stuff for a far less hostile crowd will feel unnatural and uncomfortable at least.
Never say there is no excuse, but simply ask: What is your excuse? It might be unexpected and valid at the same time. But that is just my humble opinion ...
July 9, 2014 at 1:31 pm
vliet (7/9/2014)
It would be nice if you had asked that DBA why he was worried about others stealing his ideas. If you're working in an environment where others frequently show off with results they did not accomplish, then every day it becomes harder to share knowledge and ideas with them. If your colleagues down-vote your initiatives but present these as their own in a meeting with the boss, trusting no one is just a means of survival. I am curious about the motives of this DBA; assuming he (or she?) is simply suspicious or unwilling seems very shortsighted to me. If you've worked long enough is such an environment, even blogging and presenting stuff for a far less hostile crowd will feel unnatural and uncomfortable at least.Never say there is no excuse, but simply ask: What is your excuse? It might be unexpected and valid at the same time. But that is just my humble opinion ...
Everybody you meet is fighting or recovering from a battle you know nothing about. Stand shoulder to shoulder with those that are willing for you to be on their side. Steer around those that are trying to have you stand in their stead.
July 9, 2014 at 1:51 pm
There is no secret sauce when it comes to database administration or development; I don't know why anyone wouldn't openly share their everyday techniques for getting the job done.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
July 9, 2014 at 2:38 pm
@DBA_ANDY (7/9/2014)
OCTom (7/9/2014)
karthik babu (7/8/2014)
I agree with the author. No words for people who are not willing to share their ideas as they don't belong to this world. Are they sure about they haven't stole any ideas from anybody??The below lines applicable to anybody
"known is a drop.. unknown is an ocean"
The advantage of internet is sharing things to save our counterparts who might be in need of a valuable suggestion which will save him and his job and the other guy gets a satisfaction when somebody thanks from other part of the world.
Isn't that a bit harsh? I know several people who break out in sweats when asked to do a presentation. They have a real fear of public speaking. They also fear wrath if they contribute to a blog and make an error. I think that maybe a bit more compassion and understanding for those who don't contribute. You don't know why they are not contributing.
Tom
@OCTom - I completely understand that some people have a fear of public speaking, or think they don't write well, or just don't have time for one reason or another - I don't fault any of that, and as I mentioned my own blogging and presenting efforts slide up and down with my family's needs.
As to the fear of the wrath of others I have found quite the contrary - when I first started blogging on my site and then when I first was syndicated on SQL Server Central, I received some very friendly and helpful comments from some members of the #sqlfamily that I never though would ever have time to read my stuff...and that encouragement is what led to me writing the editorial that we are discussing 🙂
I don't want anyone to think that the point of this article is to say "if you don't blog and present then you aren't trying hard enough and are part of the problem" - far from it. However I do want to highlight the benefits (to my eye) of speaking and writing and call out those who think there is no point sharing because they want to hoard knowledge - as several posters have called out, there is very little original knowledge - almost everything you know was originally from someone else's original research and documentation.
So spread it around in whichever way you are comfortable - write, speak, even just help the person across from you in the cubes - it will help you as well!
Actually,
I have done that in the past. I have presented at local developers groups. I was a member of AITP (was called DPMA at the time) and did a few talks and presentations. I wasn't talking about myself with my comment. I think it's amazing that people share on the web and in person. I applaud that.
One question though? Where does "paying it forward" come from? I always remember hearing about "paying or giving back". I have given back but don't know if I have paid it forward. 🙂
July 9, 2014 at 5:13 pm
While I'm not known for blogging about sql server or contributing to presentations this is because I'm more a consumer of SQL knowledge. I'm eternally grateful to those that take the time to give their knowledge freely, whether it be here or stack overflow etc.
In an area where I do consider that I have more knowledge and experience than many I do blog and do help people including running a strong RL community, my expertise is in photography and restoring and operating steam machinery. In those areas I #payitforward the contributions I consume from SQL.
July 9, 2014 at 5:26 pm
ppavlino (7/9/2014)
While I'm not known for blogging about sql server or contributing to presentations this is because I'm more a consumer of SQL knowledge. I'm eternally grateful to those that take the time to give their knowledge freely, whether it be here or stack overflow etc.In an area where I do consider that I have more knowledge and experience than many I do blog and do help people including running a strong RL community, my expertise is in photography and restoring and operating steam machinery. In those areas I #payitforward the contributions I consume from SQL.
ppavlino - Your post is exemplary of what this is all about. Thank you!
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
July 10, 2014 at 4:05 am
Everything you've said resonates with me:
1. Everyone starts with zero #sqlserver knowledge. (thank you for validating that - for a while I thought I was the only one who had that predicament )
2. Presenting/Demos are *the* way to learn and become and expert. In getting to the innards of explaining things to people and anticipating their doubts and questions is about the most thorough learning one can ever accomplish.
3. You learn from others' presentations and blogs - goes without saying, just like you learn a genre of music or movie making from geniuses who've gone ahead of you. Nothing to be ashamed of here. But yeah, one must acknowledge their influence. It is the honorable thing to do to acknowledge the thought leaders that paved the way for you. Myself have been indebted to learning from others' materials they shared. Conversely, I've also been at the receiving end of not being acknowledged for the thought leadership in my area of expertise. Oh well.
4. One harsh truth, don't use others' presentation as is. Rewrite, re-develop it as your own script. Trust me, you'll sound more convincing, and you'll speak with a greater conviction of an expert.
5. All said, you've convinced me that I need to start blogging and giving back to the community.
Thanks!
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