Hey DBA Managers, Don’t Be Like the Secret Service!

Continuing from yesterday’s advice to DBAs…  Three Four (hey it’s for managers, brownie points…) lessons for management from the Secret Service “issues”.   Trust But Verify At the White House “upper management” at Secret Service didn’t realize how bad things were with recent lapses. At least I hope they didn’t and I’m going to assume they … Read more

4 Attitudes I Wish I Had Earlier as a DBA

  Outside of Work is Really Important This one is first and longest  for a reason. Time – it keeps going. It doesn’t pause while you have a busy month at the office. That means the things that matter the most in life keep happening. Whether you are there or not. Right now. Right this moment – especially … Read more

More Soft Skills From The Ambulance

A couple days ago I posted some of the lessons I learned in the back of an ambulance that have translated into my career as a SQL Server Consultant or a DBA. I promised I had a few more.  Here they are. “I Don’t Know What You’ve Been Through” Empathy. My friend Tom LaRock wrote an … Read more

5 Database Lessons From The Bathroom…

sql server lessons from bathroom

I’m writing this post from my living room, don’t worry. A recent last-minute trip to replenish the household toilet paper supply had me thinking of this illustration. So… I’m a big fan of finding lessons for the day job from everyday life – call them illustrations, if you want. I’ve found inspiration preparing for planting … Read more

Best Practices: Explain and Understand Them!

Stop expecting people to blindly follow your advice. Stop blindly following the advice of others. I’m borrowing a lesson from the man who proclaimed he knew exactly when the world would end (last weekend October 21st now). If you only have a minute, my point is simple and I’ve hit it before here – For … Read more

Avoid Using Those Troubleshooting Skills

When I re-read yesterday’s blog post on troubleshooting steps, I felt guilty. Instantly. Why? Because I had failed to mention something to you in that post and failed to follow advice I just gave in my SQL Rally presentation. *In my own defense, I did mention that one of the bullets I used in that … Read more