SAs and the need for Whoops!
Systems Administrators (SAs) need some Whoops! time.
In addition to knowledge breadth and depth, system administrators need experience; this is, perhaps, the defining aspect between senior and other levels of technology creators, managers and maintainers. Been there – done that. Some less than positive examples (usually experienced early as a SA):
- made a small tweak/system change that caused everything else to fail OR
- accidentally locked out all users and/or auto-magic processes OR
- put together the greatest combination of commercial/Open Source solutions providing N^Z solutions – but it crashes when you try to use it… OR
- replicated all the latest whatever to every server/PC only to find that’s not what was really needed.
And, of course, there is the plus side to Whoops! time most likely a combination of:
- luck and
- experience (time based creating and resolving Whoops! situations.)
Examples include solving simple, complex, dynamic real-world problems:
- rescue a system from some seemingly impossible recovery point or under seemingly impossible conditions (working on a system at a distant location and restoring a failed OS/disk via a backup while connected using a modem connection.)
- a deep knowledge base of possible solutions – instead of having one approach (N), N+1 or even N^x are available – all based on combining the knowledge gained during countless explorations of unique/similar challenges/problems (whether we are dealing with a Whoops! issue or some other, simpler, even a benign problem)
- dealing with the unknown due to a Murphy Visit (you know – those never-could-happen but does happen scenarios.) Can you provide N+1 solutions for IT, when IT happens? or is an OS re-install the only solution?
Why should you care?
Do you really need a Scotty or LaForge on your team? If you are a manager who supports technology (especially computer technology) then you need to provide your team with Whoops! time - otherwise they will most likely only be able to provide a canned solution like:
- the vendor says you have to A, B, C… always…
- I can’t find this referenced in any search engine…
- It’s not in the documentation…
- This is an un-supported yada, yada, yada…
One of the great things about companies like Google is that they both provide and require that their folks spend time on special projects (what I am calling Whoops! time) that include some exploration/experimentation/discovery time. A number of these projects actually come into use (while most are abandoned.) The projects that are abandoned are probably the most beneficial – the engineers involved gain significant experience in what won’t work or simply what is a bad idea; this should bring them closer to a future winning/useful project.
Learning and Whoops!
Why do young folks seem to learn computer related solutions so easily? Part of the answer is that they have grown up using computers, Ipods, cell phones and the like. Another part is they are still explorers who are willing to try new things (Whoops!); stay young, explore, make time for and enjoy some Whoops! time.
Impossible is just a point of view under existing conditions (your limited view/understanding.)
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