Re: Operational Excellence - True or False? (Feel free to explain if so inclined)

  • From: Mark Strickland <strickland.mark@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: cicciuxdba@xxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:32:53 -0700

This thread finds me exactly where I'm at right now -- 18 years Oracle DBA
experience and now working in a place that has both Oracle and SQL Server.
Six months ago, I started learning the SQL Server side of the house.  It's
challenging, but interesting.  Since my Oracle work doesn't require much of
my time, I'm mostly focused on SQL Server (that can't last for too long
before I start losing my Oracle street cred, though, such as it is).
Whenever I do bounce back over to do Oracle work, I find that I sometimes
have to think for a few moments how to do something that has always been
routine for me.  I also have a few years of MySQL experience and that
knowledge is rapidly moving beyond nearline memory to offline memory.

I like the term "excellence" as opposed to "perfection".  We DBAs are
perfectionistic which can really drive one crazy and cause one to be
"difficult".  Many of us do indeed do excellent work, but it's far from
perfect (though often pretty damn close).  Can I be excellent in both Oracle
DBA and SQL Server?  Possibly.  Does that mean I'm a guru?  Of course, not.
I don't see how one can be a guru and also maintain work-life balance.
Perhaps our favorite authors/speakers/bloggers have figured that out.  I
sure haven't.  Anyway, my middle-aged brain can't do what it used to.

Regards,
Mark
Seattle, WA

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