Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • A Mindset Shift

    I’ve been working with people at Microsoft for nearly two decades in different circumstances. It’s been interesting to me to work with developers, Microsoft consultants, and community people across the lifetime of SQLServerCentral, especially the last 5 years. For a long time, I never wanted to work there, but I’ve started to think I might find it to be an interesting company in the last couple years.

    There are two good articles that talk about the ways that Microsoft has changed. The first is from the high level culture perspective and tries to explain how the mindset has changed. If I hadn’t been witness to it, I wouldn’t believe it. These changes really happened, and they were amazing to me. I’ve been going to Redmond for 15 years, often working with a couple groups and since Satya Nadella took over, I’ve seen these changes get implemented. I’ve watched teams grow and change, and learn to re-frame the way they look at their work. I think it’s been a change for the better.

    The second one is a little more technically detailed, and perhaps more interesting to anyone that would like to get their organization to adopt DevOps. There are some specifics with tools, but really read about the mindset changes and the feedback they use to improve software. I think too many managers think automation and features are all you need to implement and forget that quality, experimentation and learning are keys to this working well. Make sure you point those out to managers if you pass this along.

    Not everyone at Microsoft made the transition. Some left, some were probably asked to leave. New people came, but plenty adapted, altered their mindset, and have bought into the way that the company has evolved. They’ve certainly gone from a company I wouldn’t want to work for because of the stacked ranking and competition to an organization I’d now consider employment within. That’s if they want someone remote in Denver.

    I’m proud that Redgate is also moving in this type of direction. We’ve learned a lot from DevOp and we’re learning that culture is important. We hire those that work well with us and help us build better tools for software developers in a team culture. Those that don’t want to work with a team, work in a DevOps flow, and be accountable for their autonomy will probably move on. That’s fine. We’re learning who we are and implementing that into our staff. I’ve tried to do the same in my life, know who I am and be that. I hope you can do the same.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • The Costumed DBA

    It’s Halloween today, which is a day when children typically dress up and go looking for candy. It’s supposed to be trick or treat, but I’ve seen relatively few tricks and lots of treats with my kids. No Halloween for me, and likely a quiet day as I get ready for travel to Seattle and try to relax at home for a few days. My kids are grown and no others come to my house out in the country.

    More than a few adults will dress up in costume today. Some will come to work in an outfit, which is something I’ve done in the past. In my 20s, I’d wear a gorilla mask and hands, frightening more than a few people who weren’t expecting a hairy hand to fall on their shoulder or hand them a report. I haven’t done that in years, and I think those days are behind me.

    Some people will dress up at night, going out to have fun at a party. Surrounded by others that are enjoying themselves, or competing to see how creative you can be is fun. Perhaps you dress up to take your kids out and enjoy the night with them.

    Many of us do need to work today, as Halloween isn’t a holiday in most organizations. We’ll have various experiences at work, maybe a horrific day when we break something with the wrong click or poorly structured code. Maybe we’ll do something heroic that saves the day, or at least helps someone else.

    With today a costume day, I want to ask you which character, hero, icon you’d like to emulate in your daily work. Is it a computer scientist like Alan Turing? Maybe Iron Man that flies in to rescue a disaster? Maybe you’re the fireman that shuts down a problem. Let us know what costume you’d like your work to wear.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Republish: Rogue Software Changes

    On site with a customer today, so busy all day. You get to read Rogue Software Changes while I’m working.

  • Contracting for Work

    Throughout my career, I’ve primarily been a full time employee for an organization. I have worked for myself, as well as for consulting companies. For the latter, I’ve been an employee as well as a contract worker. There’s a bit of difference between those, at least in the US, and it isn’t always easy to understand what that means for an individual.

    I thought about my various experiences while reading about Jon Shaulis’ T-SQL Tuesday post recently on changing his mind about contracting. He also has a section on T-SQL (bonus points for Jon), but the post is mostly about contracting and employment. Jon talks about some of the differences he’s seen between working for someone as a contractor and as an employee. His experiences are similar to mine, but I certainly wish I’d had a good list of these things when considering job offers in my 20s.

    There are lots of people in our #sqlfamily that have started consulting businesses, wanting to work for themselves and make more money. You can read various accounts of how well this works, but it certainly isn’t as smooth for everyone as it might seem. I like reading Brent Ozar’s yearly evaluations, and I’ve been following Eugene Meidinger’s journey as well. These aren’t about contracting too much, but they do give you an idea of what it’s  like to operate your own business, and as a contractor, you are your own business, though you have a little less of the “business” stuff to do since someone does the admin, selling, and marketing and just tells you what to do.

    I actually encourage everyone to consider themselves and contractor and don’t get too complacent with your job as an employee. You never know when you situation will change, and it’s good to be prepared. It might not even be you, as your spouse or partner might force you to make a change.

    Or your employer might.

    Just like a contractor might have one client for 10 years, I think it’s prudent to keep an eye on the environment and be prepared to find another client if some unforeseen event occurs. The days of single company employment for life are over for most of us. I have the best job, but I keep an eye on the market. One never knows when things might change for them.

    Deciding how to structure your employment is a decision each of us should make, but do so with an open mind and some understanding of the changes for work, benefits, savings, medical coverage, and more. While Jon has a good list, I’d love to see more people build and publish a structured checklist in terms of decisions and costs, even sample ones. This can help others get an idea of what the impact might be on their life when making a decision like this.

    No matter whether you choose to work for an organization or as a contractor, it’s not a final decision. You can change your mind anytime, though do so with some planning and consideration of the impact on you and your family. It’s not an easy decision, but you should be comfortable with your choice when you finally do make it.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.