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On the contrary, this is where you can really prove that you are worth your salt. There is no better arena to prove yourself than a real-live production-down s

On the contrary, this is where you can really prove that you are worth your salt. There is no better arena to prove yourself than a real-live production-down situation.

Aldo_MX 11y ago
I beg to differ, a situation with a lot of factors you can't control is rarely a way to prove that you're worth your salt, It's the way you communicate your advancements what makes a difference.
- iancarroll 11y ago
  Being "worth your salt" definitely includes situations out of your control, because you need to be able to handle issues that probably aren't in your control. You're only useful if you can help with the current issues...
JshWright 11y ago
This is a pretty common sentiment among firefighters/paramedics. You don't wish for something bad to happen to someone, but you absolutely want to be there if it does.
Sharlin 11y ago
"Proving oneself" is not a thing everyone values.
madaxe_again 11y ago
That assumes you're proving yourself to a rational engineer - rather more likely one would be attempting to prove oneself to a non-tech manager, and what happens there is that typically the fixer is so deeply associated with the problem that they end up being seen as the problem. I mean, how many times have you fixed a downed server through no fault of your own to then have your head blown off by a client?
kabouseng 11y ago
It's a shame really, as the engineers fighting the crisis' gets a lot of attention, but very often those crisis' are caused by themselves. It is the engineers who's projects run smoothly who is ultimately worth more, as they can predict and prevent problems before they become a crisis, but get no recognition for it.
- digi_owl 11y ago
  And may even get the boot, because the beancounters wonder what said engineer is really doing for the paycheck... I guess it can be seen as some variant of the Lucas Critique. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_critique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_critique
- carlisle_ 11y ago
  And on the other hand there are things even a number of engineers working together can't predict. Everybody makes mistakes, and having people who can work well under pressure is important regardless of whose fault caused the problem to begin with.
- ende 11y ago
  Yes, this. It reminds me of goalies in hockey, and how people are in awe when a goalie makes some ridiculous save when in fact the goalie would have never had to have made such a save if they hadn't been out of position in the first place. The best goalies are pretty boring to watch.
  - JohnBooty 11y ago
    Yes! The Phillies used to have a fan-favorite outfielder who played hard and often made spectacular catches - but he was actually a pretty bad outfielder; the reason he made spectacular catches is because he turned routine plays into adventures.
    - speeder 11y ago
      I remembered now how some people considered the US goalie one of the best world cup players... The thing is, he was considered one of the best world cup players because the US defense was so bad, but so bad, that without him US would have ended the cup losing all games outright.
verandaguy 11y ago
It might be a shame when your real-live production-down situation is a multimillion dollar space probe nine years into a mission to capture the first high-resolution imagery as well as collect mounds of scientific data about one of the (ex-)planets in our solar system we know the least about, right after discovering surface anomalies including four suspicious dark spots on one of the body's faces. This isn't about proving you're worth your salt. It's about "let's get this thing working, ASAP, because who knows when we'll have another chance, since there's not exactly a plan B."

On the contrary, this is where you can really prove that you are worth your salt. There is no better arena to prove yourself than a real-live production-down situation.

Aldo_MX 11y ago

I beg to differ, a situation with a lot of factors you can't control is rarely a way to prove that you're worth your salt, It's the way you communicate your advancements what makes a difference.

iancarroll 11y ago
Being "worth your salt" definitely includes situations out of your control, because you need to be able to handle issues that probably aren't in your control. You're only useful if you can help with the current issues...

JshWright 11y ago

This is a pretty common sentiment among firefighters/paramedics. You don't wish for something bad to happen to someone, but you absolutely want to be there if it does.

Sharlin 11y ago

"Proving oneself" is not a thing everyone values.

madaxe_again 11y ago

That assumes you're proving yourself to a rational engineer - rather more likely one would be attempting to prove oneself to a non-tech manager, and what happens there is that typically the fixer is so deeply associated with the problem that they end up being seen as the problem. I mean, how many times have you fixed a downed server through no fault of your own to then have your head blown off by a client?

kabouseng 11y ago

It's a shame really, as the engineers fighting the crisis' gets a lot of attention, but very often those crisis' are caused by themselves. It is the engineers who's projects run smoothly who is ultimately worth more, as they can predict and prevent problems before they become a crisis, but get no recognition for it.

digi_owl 11y ago
And may even get the boot, because the beancounters wonder what said engineer is really doing for the paycheck... I guess it can be seen as some variant of the Lucas Critique. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_critique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_critique
carlisle_ 11y ago
And on the other hand there are things even a number of engineers working together can't predict. Everybody makes mistakes, and having people who can work well under pressure is important regardless of whose fault caused the problem to begin with.
ende 11y ago
Yes, this. It reminds me of goalies in hockey, and how people are in awe when a goalie makes some ridiculous save when in fact the goalie would have never had to have made such a save if they hadn't been out of position in the first place. The best goalies are pretty boring to watch.
- JohnBooty 11y ago
  Yes! The Phillies used to have a fan-favorite outfielder who played hard and often made spectacular catches - but he was actually a pretty bad outfielder; the reason he made spectacular catches is because he turned routine plays into adventures.
  - speeder 11y ago
    I remembered now how some people considered the US goalie one of the best world cup players... The thing is, he was considered one of the best world cup players because the US defense was so bad, but so bad, that without him US would have ended the cup losing all games outright.

verandaguy 11y ago

It might be a shame when your real-live production-down situation is a multimillion dollar space probe nine years into a mission to capture the first high-resolution imagery as well as collect mounds of scientific data about one of the (ex-)planets in our solar system we know the least about, right after discovering surface anomalies including four suspicious dark spots on one of the body's faces. This isn't about proving you're worth your salt. It's about "let's get this thing working, ASAP, because who knows when we'll have another chance, since there's not exactly a plan B."