April 3, 2014 at 3:59 pm
WayneS (4/3/2014)
Sean Lange (4/3/2014)
Greg Edwards-268690 (4/3/2014)
it was clear they had no idea what they wanted or needed.But finish it by Friday.
This is an everyday occurrence at my job.
You have until Friday? Geez, you're spoiled! 😀
OK - yesterday then. 😀
April 3, 2014 at 4:01 pm
"If I wanted it tomorrow, I'd ask for it tomorrow!!"
__________________________________________________
Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. -- Friedrich Schiller
Stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down. -- Stephen Stills
April 3, 2014 at 4:44 pm
Greg Edwards-268690 (4/3/2014)
When Marketing meets with Engineering, nothing is impossible. 😀Reminds me of a meeting where the business wanted something built, but when you started asking some questions, it was clear they had no idea what they wanted or needed.
But finish it by Friday.
I've known that happen, but don't assume that it's always marketing to blame. It usually is, but not always - check out which engineers they've been talking to first; or which accountants; or which project managers. The worst is when some engineers have a half-baked scheme to build something wonderful, but haven't noticed that they haven't a clue how to do it and don't have the first idea about either how to estimate costs or how to undertake serious research or even to conduct development efficiently, and manage to sell that half-baked scheme to marketing and to the CFO - usually these maketing and finance types know nothing about engineering, so it's easy to sell them a load of rubbish.
It tends to be marketing and accountants that screw things up in IT activities, but with engineers helping tham they can screw it up far worse than without.
Tom
April 3, 2014 at 6:11 pm
Many thanks to Steve for syndicating my blogs on SSC:
And my apologies for making you work so hard at it.
My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?
My advice:
INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.
Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
[url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St
April 3, 2014 at 6:13 pm
Sean Lange (4/3/2014)
Greg Edwards-268690 (4/3/2014)
it was clear they had no idea what they wanted or needed.But finish it by Friday.
This is an everyday occurrence at my job.
If it happens every day and each needs to be completed by Friday, doesn't that mean your backlog builds geometrically?
My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?
My advice:
INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.
Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
[url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St
April 3, 2014 at 6:42 pm
dwain.c (4/3/2014)
Many thanks to Steve for syndicating my blogs on SSC:And my apologies for making you work so hard at it.
You are welcome and good stuff. Check it out, everyone
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/way0utwest
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
My Blog: www.voiceofthedba.com
April 3, 2014 at 7:06 pm
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/3/2014)
dwain.c (4/3/2014)
Many thanks to Steve for syndicating my blogs on SSC:And my apologies for making you work so hard at it.
You are welcome and good stuff. Check it out, everyone
Thanks Steve. I should set expectations though to the veterans following this thread that it's mostly pretty newbie stuff. But it will get more advanced as time passes.
My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?
My advice:
INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.
Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
[url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St
April 3, 2014 at 7:38 pm
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/3/2014)
Revenant (4/3/2014)
Sean Lange (4/3/2014)
Greg Edwards-268690 (4/3/2014)
it was clear they had no idea what they wanted or needed.But finish it by Friday.
This is an everyday occurrence at my job.
That's OK as long as there is sufficient padding in the budget.
You can have it fast or cheap...
Not if you want it right.
You can have it fast, cheap, or right - pick only one of the three.
EDIT: fix quotes - I hate this site's "I'll quote the wrong message feature but not tell you" feature about as much as I hate the "you've expired so we've thrown your typing away" feature.
Tom
April 3, 2014 at 7:43 pm
TomThomson (4/3/2014)
Sean Lange (4/3/2014)
Greg Edwards-268690 (4/3/2014)
it was clear they had no idea what they wanted or needed.But finish it by Friday.
This is an everyday occurrence at my job.
Not if you want it right.
You can have it fast, cheap, or right - pick only one of the three.
I thought that was 2 of 3? When did this change? I don't remember seeing the memo?
April 3, 2014 at 7:51 pm
Lynn Pettis (4/3/2014)
TomThomson (4/3/2014)
Sean Lange (4/3/2014)
Greg Edwards-268690 (4/3/2014)
it was clear they had no idea what they wanted or needed.But finish it by Friday.
This is an everyday occurrence at my job.
Not if you want it right.
You can have it fast, cheap, or right - pick only one of the three.
I thought that was 2 of 3? When did this change? I don't remember seeing the memo?
It could be 1 of 3, or 2 of 3, but rarely 3 of 3. Here's the memo:
How to Avoid Software Projects Failing[/url]
My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?
My advice:
INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.
Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
[url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St
April 3, 2014 at 8:04 pm
Lynn Pettis (4/3/2014)
TomThomson (4/3/2014)
You can have it fast, cheap, or right - pick only one of the three.I thought that was 2 of 3? When did this change? I don't remember seeing the memo?
Well, there is an interesting paradox: if you pick "right" as the one of the three you insist on, you stand a chance of getting it fast and cheap, so you can sometimes get all three. But if you start from cheap it will go wrong, and take a long time to fix, which may ead to budget overruns so aiming for cheap won't deliver fast or right and is rather unlikely to deliver cheap, and if you start from "fast" and want 2 man years work done in 2 days and put hundreds of people on it with no time to plan the work or coordinate the many teams you are pretty well guaranteed an expensive and buggy result that isn't available until long after you wanted it. So the only one of the three you should pick is "right" and then you may get the other two as well, whereas if you pick either of the others you will probably get none of the three.
However, non-technical managers (and most technical managers too, in fact) don't understand this, so they have to be offered the choice - and allowing them to pick two of the three guarantees failure, so they should only be allowed to choose one so that there's at least some chance of success. I've even known an accountant pick "get it right" as his preferred option, so there's always some chance if you restrict them to one of the three.
Tom
April 3, 2014 at 8:34 pm
dwain.c (4/3/2014)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/3/2014)
dwain.c (4/3/2014)
Many thanks to Steve for syndicating my blogs on SSC:And my apologies for making you work so hard at it.
You are welcome and good stuff. Check it out, everyone
Thanks Steve. I should set expectations though to the veterans following this thread that it's mostly pretty newbie stuff. But it will get more advanced as time passes.
Unlike most newbie stuff, this is good solid material. You're doing a good great job - keep it up.
Wayne
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008
Author - SQL Server T-SQL Recipes
April 3, 2014 at 8:37 pm
WayneS (4/3/2014)
dwain.c (4/3/2014)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/3/2014)
dwain.c (4/3/2014)
Many thanks to Steve for syndicating my blogs on SSC:And my apologies for making you work so hard at it.
You are welcome and good stuff. Check it out, everyone
Thanks Steve. I should set expectations though to the veterans following this thread that it's mostly pretty newbie stuff. But it will get more advanced as time passes.
Unlike most newbie stuff, this is good solid material. You're doing a
goodgreat job - keep it up.
Thanks Wayne! That means a lot coming from you.
Wait until you see the one I've titled: "Stupid T-SQL Tricks - Part 1" (probably out in a week or so). Should be a hoot!
My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?
My advice:
INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.
Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
[url url=http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/St
April 3, 2014 at 10:47 pm
TomThomson (4/3/2014)
Lynn Pettis (4/3/2014)
TomThomson (4/3/2014)
You can have it fast, cheap, or right - pick only one of the three.I thought that was 2 of 3? When did this change? I don't remember seeing the memo?
Well, there is an interesting paradox: if you pick "right" as the one of the three you insist on, you stand a chance of getting it fast and cheap, so you can sometimes get all three. But if you start from cheap it will go wrong, and take a long time to fix, which may ead to budget overruns so aiming for cheap won't deliver fast or right and is rather unlikely to deliver cheap, and if you start from "fast" and want 2 man years work done in 2 days and put hundreds of people on it with no time to plan the work or coordinate the many teams you are pretty well guaranteed an expensive and buggy result that isn't available until long after you wanted it. So the only one of the three you should pick is "right" and then you may get the other two as well, whereas if you pick either of the others you will probably get none of the three.
However, non-technical managers (and most technical managers too, in fact) don't understand this, so they have to be offered the choice - and allowing them to pick two of the three guarantees failure, so they should only be allowed to choose one so that there's at least some chance of success. I've even known an accountant pick "get it right" as his preferred option, so there's always some chance if you restrict them to one of the three.
I am printing this in size 36p font and putting it on the wall of my office.
April 4, 2014 at 5:37 am
TomThomson (4/3/2014)
Lynn Pettis (4/3/2014)
TomThomson (4/3/2014)
You can have it fast, cheap, or right - pick only one of the three.I thought that was 2 of 3? When did this change? I don't remember seeing the memo?
Well, there is an interesting paradox: if you pick "right" as the one of the three you insist on, you stand a chance of getting it fast and cheap, so you can sometimes get all three. But if you start from cheap it will go wrong, and take a long time to fix, which may ead to budget overruns so aiming for cheap won't deliver fast or right and is rather unlikely to deliver cheap, and if you start from "fast" and want 2 man years work done in 2 days and put hundreds of people on it with no time to plan the work or coordinate the many teams you are pretty well guaranteed an expensive and buggy result that isn't available until long after you wanted it. So the only one of the three you should pick is "right" and then you may get the other two as well, whereas if you pick either of the others you will probably get none of the three.
However, non-technical managers (and most technical managers too, in fact) don't understand this, so they have to be offered the choice - and allowing them to pick two of the three guarantees failure, so they should only be allowed to choose one so that there's at least some chance of success. I've even known an accountant pick "get it right" as his preferred option, so there's always some chance if you restrict them to one of the three.
You know, I think it's both interesting and sad that no matter where we are in the world, no matter what industry we work in, no matter who we work with, the problems we all face are so similar. The original video was a humorous look at things, but what makes it so funny is that it's all too real and has probably happened to all of us more that a few times. We get that strange "you can't be serious" look in our face and then we realize that they are. Of course, should have been done yesterday, cost the stakeholder absolutely nothing and work faster than blazes - nearly instantaneous.
Aside from the impossibility factor, people feel the need to take so much time talking about it and when it's all said and done, we're still left wondering if there was a straight answer in there anywhere. No matter what our specialty, the problems we deal with every day are so very common. The cool part is that we get things done.
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