Voice of the DBA

Tag: career

  • It’s the Journey

    I saw this on the 37 Signals blog as “I’ve already got the prize" and found it to be both true, and a little annoying. It refers to the Nobel Peace Prize, who Richard Feynman is apparently in consideration for.

    The speaker comes across a little arrogant, and a bit of an ass, but what he’s saying makes sense. He’s not necessarily a fun guy to be around, but I think many brilliant people, especially teachers and researchers, aren’t.

    However he’s saying that the journey, the fact that you are learning and figuring things out, is what’s important. It’s not the award, it’s not being a part of some group that recognizes your efforts that’s important.

    I agree with that. It is nice to be recognized, to get kudos, maybe some reward for your effort, but if you shoot for that reward and it’s the best part of your work, then I think you are going to be constantly disappointed.

    Enjoy the journey, smell the roses, take pride in your effort and what you do. If there is some recognition or reward later, that should be a small part of you enjoying what you do.

  • Why I Write

    I have a great job. Actually it’s a fantastic job for me. I have flexible hours, I can work almost anywhere, which means that I can do things like go with my kids to events, even trips out of town and still work. I get to express myself, and talk about interesting things.
    However there are hassles, it can be a grind, and there is pressure to come up with something interesting on a regular basis. I do enjoy it, but I have had times where I thought about going to be a DBA somewhere and letting someone else point out work for me to do.
    Then I get notes like this:
    I’ve been in this business since 1980, starting with CDC punch cards, so you can see how much ‘experience’ has accumulated in what seems like the wink of an eye. I don’t get the chance to read all your editorials, but from the ones I have read, you have the gift ( because it is a gift ) of seeing the whole picture!
    … Your insight and knowledge of not just ‘work’ but of people and careers is the best, more so than any other I’ve read. Don’t lose that deep appreciation of life/work, care and intelligence your editorials have come to be.
    That’s cool. It arrived in my Inbox recently and made my day.

  • Settling or Pushing On

    I read a blog recently that was titled: Time to Stop Settling. I think that the author (a friend) was intending to motivate you to move forward, and try to change things when you see a way to make them better instead of living with them.

    I agree, but….

    My caveat here is that you also need to find balance in your life. One of my favorite quotes is “God grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” I think that quote is telling you to strive for balance, and realize that you cannot change everything, but you can change some things and you ought to think about those that you can.

    We all have tough times in our lives, especially at work. Even though I have the best job in the world, I have bad days, I have things I don’t like, things that I can’t change. I strive to balance the stress and workload with the good things, and while I try to move forward, I move forward in different ways. Some periods might involve more time with my wife, some more vacation with family, some more speaking, some more writing, but they all are a part of life.

    Don’t settle when you don’t need to, but don’t try to change everything. Pick your battles and look to make headway, make things better, not “fix” everything.

  • MVP Congratulations

    It usually slips my mind that there are award dates for the Microsoft MVP program outside my own. I’m on Jan 1, though I don’t always know until Jan 2 or 3, depending on the snow 🙂

    Today a bunch of people were awarded and re-awarded. I’m sure I’ll miss some people, but here are some congrats that I know about (Twitter links):

    I’m sure I’ve missed a few, and apologies for those I didn’t catch on Twitter.

    This is a fantastic group and I’m honored to be in such good company in the SQL Community.