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> That's where the mentor [...] comes in. The thing is, specifically, that the OP did NOT have a mentor. They had a serious problem to solve, pronto, and knew

> That's where the mentor [...] comes in. The thing is, specifically, that the OP did NOT have a mentor. They had a serious problem to solve, pronto, and knew enough to take a crack at it. OK, the initial implementation was suboptimal. So what? It's totally normal, learn and try again. Repeat. It would be nice if every workplace had a orderly hierarchy of talent where everyone takes care to nurture and support everyone else (especially new folks). And where it's OK to ask questions and receive guidance even across organizational silos, where there are guardrails to mitigate accidents and terrible mistakes. If you work in such an environment, you are lucky. It is far more common to have sharp-elbow/blamestorm workplaces which pretend to value "accountability" but then don't lift a finger to support anyone who takes initiative. I suspect that at the time Rachelbythebay worked in exactly this kind of environment, where it simply wasn't possible for an OPS person to go see the resident database expert and ask for advice.

otterley 5y ago
Right. Hence my concern about the lack of helpful advice other than “accept yourself”[1]: Neophyte engineers lacking guardrails and local mentors should fall back to what they learned in school: experiment, use your books, and ask questions from the community. Mentors can be found outside the immediate workplace, after all. And when it comes to taking production risks, measure twice and cut once, just like a good carpenter. [1] Of course you should accept yourself. But that alone won’t advance the profession or one’s career.
- crispyambulance 5y ago
  > measure twice and cut once Being able to do that is a luxury that many do not enjoy in nose-to-the-grindstone workplaces. You make an estimate (or someone makes it for you), then you gotta deliver mentor or no mentor, and whether you know the finer points of database design/care-and-feeding or not. There's something good to be said for taking action. Rachelbythebay did just fine. No one died, the company didn't suffer, it was just a problem, it got corrected later. Big whoop.

otterley 5y ago

Right. Hence my concern about the lack of helpful advice other than “accept yourself”[1]: Neophyte engineers lacking guardrails and local mentors should fall back to what they learned in school: experiment, use your books, and ask questions from the community. Mentors can be found outside the immediate workplace, after all. And when it comes to taking production risks, measure twice and cut once, just like a good carpenter. [1] Of course you should accept yourself. But that alone won’t advance the profession or one’s career.

crispyambulance 5y ago
> measure twice and cut once Being able to do that is a luxury that many do not enjoy in nose-to-the-grindstone workplaces. You make an estimate (or someone makes it for you), then you gotta deliver mentor or no mentor, and whether you know the finer points of database design/care-and-feeding or not. There's something good to be said for taking action. Rachelbythebay did just fine. No one died, the company didn't suffer, it was just a problem, it got corrected later. Big whoop.