Ending the Wait

Speaking of waiting, why does it seem like the rest of our technology is not quite keeping pace with the explosive evolution of phones and computers? This whole growth has been powered by the incredible, shrinking, cheap transistor; such a small thing, such a small lego piece, providing the platform for growth. Who knew that our current societal revolutions would be driven by birth control and transistors? Small things that allow flexibility. What is the next big revolution? How can we know it when we see it? What is the building block of revolution? Necessity? 

 

How can I serve you better?

This is a question you could ask your direct customers, teammates, boss, or even your spouse.
So can I serve better?
It’s ironic that this is all ultimately aimed to serve me. If I’m not doing my job as best as I can, I’m not providing the best value.

State your plan.
Every week:
1) Report status and impasses to your boss
2) Ask for help if you need it
3) do a reality check on your progress

All active projects should be prominently displayed on a board (kanban–physical or electronic) so that everybody can:
1) see what is being worked on
2) see who needs help and
3) see what needs help

People like Scott want to help and can be of tremendous value. They just need to be pointed in the right direction.

 

Possible New Path

Given the industry trend toward commoditization of servers, skill in server administration will become less needed.

Everything is a service these days, including servers.

So, what is a sysadmin to do?

Look for other areas of interest. For me, that means that I can count on cheap and ubiquitous servers. So, I can focus more on the development side, to produce applications.

 

Results of my employee review

Funny. I always go into these meetings with hope that my boss will offer some constructive criticism.
Maybe I look too fragile…or angry.
Either way, he’s too timid in dishing it out. I just need to let him know it’s ok.

One take away from the meeting is that I feel like the one doing the evaluating.
True, I’m extra sensitive about how my boss behaves toward me since I am not content in my current position. What is my assessment of him? He does what he can in his place of power but he’s not stupid. He knows he has no authority beyond his position. He feels he has to keep in step.

Today was a good reminder for me about communication and leadership; two critiques he did give me.

I can keep everyone up to date about why I’m working on and what my priorities are. This can be communicated via good old talking, a kanban board, meetings, emails.

Leadership. Think: airplane oxygen masks. I must be able to lead myself before I lead others. One form of this is goal setting.
I will keep lists of goals by day, week, month, quarter, year, 5 years, 20 years.

 

What kind of manager do you have?

Mine gets things done.
If you don’t do your part, he’ll go around you. End of story.
He won’t give much unsolicited feedback unless you are doing very badly.
Is he a good mentor?
In many ways, yes. But he fails in the hard part of criticism.
I think a good mentor gives you feedback, good or bad.

 

Eyes on the prize

What is my prize?
Where is my heart?
Where is my head?
I feel scatter brained lately.
I’m busy and working hard but I can’t see where I’m going and that is frustrating.
What is my journey?
I know not to focus only on the end goal only.
Today counts just as much.

 

Accomplishments this week

I’m not diminishing what I’ve achieved this week. But I am being honest with myself about what it is exactly that I achieved.
So what were my achievements?
• I improved our interview process with the thought that went into our requirements and the resulting questions.
• I figured out why I couldn’t connect to my new test xenapp farm. I’m proud because the errors and logs were of little use. Sheepishly, I admit I caused my own problem. But this was also a wakeup call to me to be methodical about my changes. It’s easy to make changes but not so easy to keep track of them when things go sideways
• I got my sccm task sequence to build an almost complete xenapp server. This was more just about persistence, trying things, and seeking help from subject experts.

 

Reliability

What do you need to ensure your service is always available?
GSLB

Do not rely on DNS

 

Hiring an experienced newbie

So, it’s been incredibly difficult to find a qualified applicant for our new sysadmin position. At minimum, I’m looking for someone that knows how to manage windows server on vmware. This person will be required to follow processes for change management, disaster recovery planning, testing, etc. This person’s duties will quickly grow to managing the vmware infrastructure as well as critical windows services.

I’m currently reviewing an applicant who has, as far as I’m concerned, been working the same job for the past 21 years. The only reason he’s looking for work is his job is being eliminated. But, to cut him some slack, I must say that he sounds no less sharp than any of us tools in this here shed. In the end, we all rely on google-fu to save our bacon. I need to be careful not to be a hypocrite there. Plus, talking to him, one hears a clear appreciation or respect for what goes on in big scale.

But, I can’t stop thinking: we’re dealing with a guy who has been comfortable and is being shocked into action; else become extinct.

I want to say to him: you’ve been at the same job for over 20 years and all you have to say for yourself is what is on your resume. Why should I hire you? Make a compelling case. and don’t tell me that you are passionate and a quick learner; it takes more than that.

In the end, I say who gets hired. So, why should I even waste my time agonizing over this applicant? Because we’ve all been there. We all hope someone gives a break, taking into account that we have the potential to be successful.

Should I give this person a break?

 

more goldenness: Powershell + forms + treeview controls

PowerShell help browser using Windows Forms and TreeView Control

http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/ScriptCenter/ea76e9dd-e6bf-4750-b1a2-de0a0a649797/