July 1, 2014 at 9:18 am
Thank you Sarah for motivating me to get back into the mode of, at the very least, reviewing the current forum topics referenced in the daily email. I used to do that regularly and without a doubt, my knowledge increased as a result. I had a wonderful DBA mentor when I started out as a developer and after he left to go on to bigger and better things, it was SQL Server Central that filled the vacancy. The first reply you got was from the one I'm in awe of - Jeff Moden. Now off to check out the latest forum posts!!
July 1, 2014 at 9:21 am
I guess I just consider myself lucky to have had a great boss that pushed training into our laps. He always said you should be spending at least a couple of hours a week reading articles, learning something new.
You're fortunate in that regard, yes; but give yourself a pat on the back as well, for having the desire and willingness to learn. I see far too many people in IT - and not just DBAs - who seem all too happy to just sit on whatever knowledge they acquired years (even decades) ago. They never learn anything new, and become a drag on those who do.
How this kind of people - and their IT shops - manage to survive is a mystery to me.
July 1, 2014 at 10:24 am
GoofyGuy (7/1/2014)
...I see far too many people in IT - and not just DBAs - who seem all too happy to just sit on whatever knowledge they acquired years (even decades) ago. They never learn anything new, and become a drag on those who do.How this kind of people - and their IT shops - manage to survive is a mystery to me.
The ones that really shock me are the people who attempt to derail others who are trying to improve themselves, alleviate team issues as well as improve efficiency and responsiveness to business needs.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
July 1, 2014 at 10:39 am
I fully understand where the author is coming from. The IT department where I work recently did SWOT analysis and both the infrastructure group and development group had me in their strength quadrant being a good DBA. I always feel like I'm standing on the shoulders of giants as I'm mainly applying things I've learned here and in other blogs/articles/sessions. I do bring some talents and skills to my job, but without the knowledge of others I've gained along the way I wouldn't be able to achieve the high quality of work that I do in as efficient a manner as I do. 😎
July 1, 2014 at 10:46 am
The ones that really shock me are the people who attempt to derail others who are trying to improve themselves, alleviate team issues as well as improve efficiency and responsiveness to business needs.
Indeed. They remind me of lobsters in a pot. The moment one with sense enough tries to escape, the others reach up with their claws to drag it back in.
And we know what fate awaits them all.
July 1, 2014 at 10:58 am
Not to sound too much like a "me too" but, I also applaud Sarah's article and all of the people who take the time to answer the questions, and help guide all of us to be the best DBA's (accidental or otherwise) that we can be.
Having communities like SSC and PASS make such a huge difference.
I would also like to point out that what makes the Masters just that is their willingness to not only pass on the lessons learned from their own experience, but their desire to continue to learn more and then pass that knowledge on.
Thank you all for your enthusiasm and support!
John
July 1, 2014 at 12:38 pm
Nice first article Sarah (at least here on SSC). If you have others, please let us know where to find them.
Like Grant and Brent, I agree that there has been more time to fiddle with and/or break things. Let's call it experience for good measure (mostly because Grant is older than me and I don't think I am old yet).
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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July 1, 2014 at 2:38 pm
SQLRNNR (7/1/2014)
Nice first article Sarah (at least here on SSC). If you have others, please let us know where to find them.
This was my first article. Hopefully not my last. I really appreciate all the positive feedback.
July 1, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Sarah Wagner (7/1/2014)
SQLRNNR (7/1/2014)
Nice first article Sarah (at least here on SSC). If you have others, please let us know where to find them.This was my first article. Hopefully not my last. I really appreciate all the positive feedback.
Keep going. I am trying to.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
July 1, 2014 at 4:49 pm
Sarah Wagner (7/1/2014)
SQLRNNR (7/1/2014)
Nice first article Sarah (at least here on SSC). If you have others, please let us know where to find them.This was my first article. Hopefully not my last. I really appreciate all the positive feedback.
It was absolutely well put together.
----------------------------------------------------The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood... Theodore RooseveltThe Scary DBAAuthor of: SQL Server 2017 Query Performance Tuning, 5th Edition and SQL Server Execution Plans, 3rd EditionProduct Evangelist for Red Gate Software
July 1, 2014 at 10:08 pm
Very good article, Sarah. And it was encouraging to me as well. Thank you for sharing it!
Rod
July 2, 2014 at 5:01 pm
Sarah - you must introduce yourself to these people (and all of us at SQL events) of whom you speak. I know every one of them personally, great friends, ordinary people, I know stuff they don't know (I think 🙂 ), they know stuff I don't know. Even though I only seem them a couple times a year, it's all about #SQLFamily. A great group that has a great time when we all get together. Alan White put it best at a recent SQL Saturday when he said everyone has something to contribute. Don't be shy.
Great post, by the way. I, too, dabbled in Java until the SQL databases needed attention. I was hooked at that point as well.
Gill Rowley
August 5, 2014 at 7:23 am
Sarah Wagner (7/1/2014)
This was my first article. Hopefully not my last. I really appreciate all the positive feedback.
Have some more. 😀
One thing I've noticed in 99.999% of the SQL people I meet @ Bits/Saturdays/Relays/SQLFAQ/etc is how approachable they are and how humble they are, you can ask them any question and they ALWAYS come up with an answer. They are genuinely nice people. (Sorry if that sounds condescending or schmaltzy).
qh
August 5, 2014 at 4:52 pm
quackhandle1975 (8/5/2014)
One thing I've noticed in 99.999% of the SQL people I meet @ Bits/Saturdays/Relays/SQLFAQ/etc is how approachable they are and how humble they are, you can ask them any question and they ALWAYS come up with an answer. They are genuinely nice people. (Sorry if that sounds condescending or schmaltzy). qh
I think that comes from all of us who work with SQL know we don't and can't know it all. I know the core of SQL and can setup just about any version without thinking abut it. I can also do programming in T-SQL and debug it as well. But I also know that I haven't used every keyword of T-SQL. My new job has some pre-done scripts we use. The one script uses UNPIVOT. I had never seen it before now.
I've barely touched SSIS and don't know SSRS at all. So as soon as you feel high & mighty and all knowing. Go to one of those gatherings and you will not retain that feeling long.
----------------
Jim P.
A little bit of this and a little byte of that can cause bloatware.
August 6, 2014 at 12:48 am
Great story and very inspirational.
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