Documentation and tangets

Good documentation would describe everything that goes on, but it a small scale IT environment, projects fly in faster than the documentation can be completed.  For a 70 site company, I can think of at least six projects in less than ten seconds that are on the plate.  There are probably more.

Projects pile up faster than they can be documented, and often the final solution isn't something we'd expected.  As such, building a new back office computer becomes an exercise in fighting Windows 7 and fighting documentation that hasn't been updated since Windows 2000, if the documentation exists at all.

In the end, you have to document.  Otherwise, you sit there scratching your head, thinking back to all the memorable moments you've had, trying to figure out what the solution was.  It could be something like the serial port communication speed wasn't correct, or you had the cable plugged in to a slot that no longer works and surprise, whoever moved the cable didn't document.  So you have to document.  It's not a choice.

First step: buy a label maker.  I can hear the questions: what does a label maker have to do with documentation?   Simple answer: go look at any switch in a location, and tell me what all those cables plug in to.  Every single cable.  Now go find the other end.  Have fun.  I'll be waiting here.  Back?  Ok.

I was thinking of a second question when I started writing this, but when I came to finish it (today) that question is completely gone.  I have no idea where I was going with that. 

Cabling is the simplest and easiest way to see results when documenting.  If you have done your job right, you should be able to immediately notice if a cable has come out.  You should also be able to walk a non-technical person through chasing that cable over the phone.  At the moment, I don't have to do that.  All but two of my sites are within 30 minutes drive of each other.  But that's going to change.  It's just a matter of when. 

Second side note...  My first original sentence was "documentation is a necessary evil".  But that's not correct.  Documentation is a discipline and security issue.  You have to be disciplined enough to actually write the documentation.  You have to be secure enough to realize though you performed the steps, it's someone else's equipment.  And that could be half the reason most IT people don't document when they should.  A lack of discipline in an otherwise highly disciplined environment is unacceptable. 

So, after a couple of side notes, I think I've gone somewhere completely different from where I started.  It's a good place, though. 

The other point I was going to make about documentation...  Quit trying to write a "complete" document and turn all your documentation into "living documents".  In other words, hash out whatever steps you can think of for the project and document steps like crazy, but if you forget a section don't sweat.  If the project was worth doing once it'll probably get repeated.

Besides, documentation is only good after 3-4 people have gone through and tried to do what you are trying to do.  Because you know what you are trying to do.  They don't.  

Computers are the future! Computers improve productivity! (no they don't)

Sometimes it's only in knowing a thing very well that we are able to tell when others don't know what they are talking about. Point of fact are two things I hear very frequently from both the technologically inept and the technology professional. Though I do say I hear these things a lot less from professionals.

Computers are the future! Computers improve productivity!

The instant you hear either of these things you should do one of two things: nod your head and smile, because the person doesn't know what they are talking about, or find a way to fire that person.

Let's go with the second premise first, that computers improve productivity. Most people listen to the hype and the marketing pitch, so they go out and buy a computer. The marketing pitch is that sheer ownership of a computer will improve productivity. I know of nothing that simply owning will improve productivity. But this is what initially sold those huge, clunky machines, and still sells them to this day. Don't get me wrong, computers are a lot of fun, but simply owning one does not improve productivity.

What everyone must realize is that a computer is a tool, no different than a hammer.  Hammers are there for a purpose.  You have specific hammers for specific tasks.  You have claw hammers, sledge hammers, tack hammers, rubber mallet style hammers, and who knows how many other types of hammers.  But if you attack a screw with a hammer, problems are going to occur.

See, with tools it's all about using the right tool.   We use cabinets from Royston.  They make good cabinets.  But you need the right tools to go through the knockouts to run all the wires.  I've tried knocking out knockouts with the wrong tool, and it takes forever.  The last time I tried the wrong tool it took me an hour to go through one cabinet.  Then I got mad and got the right tool.  FYI, the right tool is a rubber mallet and chisel.  With the right tool. going through cabinets is a snap  After some frustration with flexible conduit (which is great for electricity, and absolutely horrible for data communications) I knocked out holes through ten cabinets in less than ten minutes.  The right tool gets the job done quickly and efficiently.  The wrong tool doesn't get the job done. 

So...

To reiterate: computers are tools.  If put to proper use, they help.  If not, they do no good.  Remember this next time you hire a computer person.

Fresh thoughts on old ideas

On my vacation, I've spent a lot of time thinking about various things.  Reading through One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick led me to think about my time in the Marine Corps.  More importantly, I was thinking about how to translate the success experienced in the Corps to the civilian world.   I've ran into numerous Marines who could do almost anything in the Marines, but never could find any success outside in the rest of the world.  I think I figured out why.

Everything started out simple in the Marines.  We would go run in the warmth and heat at a slow pace.  Those first runs were easy, with little effort required to finish.  They weren't meat grinders.  Slowly but surely, we'd run farther and farther in worse and worse situations.  First, the pace and distance picked up.  Shoes and shorts were replaced with combat boots and utility uniforms.  Packs were added.  From there, things just got ridiculous.  We had MOPP runs in full gas protection suits, flak runs, resupply runs, and who knows what else.  The point was simple, though.  Slow, incremental change that built success upon success taught that anything was possible. 

But there was a second lesson.  Ridiculous situations happened everywhere in the Corps.  I remember sleeping out in pouring rain near after doing a training exercise.  No matter the situation, we trained.  We trained in the rain, sun, cold, wind, and anything else you could possibly imagine.  No matter what, we trained.

In the end, it paid off.  During my three tours in Iraq, I saw every horrendous situation there could be.  Freezing rain, ridiculous heat, and sandstorms were generally par for the course.  I even saw snow one February morning in Kuwait, though the ground cover was gone by mid-morning.  Through it all, we trekked on, never stopping, and never relenting.  It was an endless, aggressive march towards our goal; a predatory attack on whatever happened to be in front of us at the time.  Crush, kill, and destroy whatever got in the way.  And it worked.  It worked wonders.

But those principals are generally lost once one leaves the Marine Corps.  It's hard to maintain that rugged discipline and adherence when no one is watching, and have the people you deal with don't care.  The sights of the world are much more interesting and distracting.  It's much easier to watch the nights' football game and root for your favorite team than it is to go out and do hard things by yourself. 

I've tried to explain this principal to my wife, but I'm nowhere near as elegant or well-spoken as I need to be.  The lies and meanders of TV are an interesting waste of time, but they are just that: a waste of time.  Back in the Corps, we didn't care what was on TV.  We had a mission to accomplish, and nothing was going to get in our way.  No rain, no sleet, no Haji invaders.  There was nothing that was going to stand between a Marine and his goal.  Nothing at all.

As another example, try watching the first episode of Band of Brothers.  The obstacle presented in that show is a very similar example.  They went after a hill they call Currahe.  It was three miles up, and three miles down Currahe.  At the beginning of episode, they ran up in shoes.  Shoes paved way to boots.  Boots paved way to boots immediately after eating a full dinner.  Boots became packs.  Packs became a run that was nothing.  By the end, the strength to endure had been created through steadily increasing difficulty.  Through some fairly decent film making, you could tell how horrible the run was.  Just watching the episode makes me want to go run up a mountain and conquer the world.  But the 1st Airborne didn't just run up a mountain.  They walked up the mountain.  Then they jogged up the mountain.  And then they jogged a little faster, and a little harder. 

Now translate that into the civilian world.  Tuesday, I went running with my wife.  It was slightly misting, but otherwise not a bad day.  It was in the mid 80s, so the weather was good.  But it was misting and it could have been a reason to not go running.  But we went anyways.  We could have stayed home, but we didn't.  That one day set the tone for the entire rest of the week.  We've been out and running every single day since then.  The only day we will miss will be Friday, and that is because an unexpected blessing to go to SeaWorld.  Instead of worrying about her weight loss journey this week, my wife has posted net calorie losses every single day.  It may not be the two pounds per week she wants, but it will still be a loss.  And a loss on vacation is not something you often run into from the drive by crowds.

The point is simple.  If you want something, start working on it now.  But don't try full sprint for three miles just because that's what you want the final goal to be.  Work your way towards your goal.  Every single day.  Without fail.  Rearrange your life to accomplish your goal.  When "I can" replaces "I wish I could" then you've made a fairly decent jump.

leverage

I understand the concept of leverage.  I just think it's stupid.  Leverage is using borrowed money to make money.  Example: you borrow $100,000, and have monthly payments of $700 per month.  Now, if you can take that $100,000 in borrowed money and make more than $700 per month, then you have "leveraged" that money.  You are using borrowed money to make money.

My biggest problem with leverage is that it covers up stupid.  If someone gives the average person $100,000 for their brilliant business idea that person is going to hire 2-3 people, get an office and some furniture, and then use less than 50% of that money they borrowed to actually run the business.

A great idea is a great idea regardless of how much money you have.  Regardless of the brilliance of the idea, there are other problems.  If you don't understand accounting, finance, hiring, and firing then all that borrowed money is just going to compound your stupid and dig you into a bigger hole.  But we're taught in school is that the idea is all that matters.  That's just wrong-headed thinking. 

It seems to me like a better idea to run that business idea with whatever money you can come up with in your spare time, beyond your emergency fund.  If you have no money, then you are not going to hire anyone until you are making money.  If you don't borrow money, then you have no chance of losing money you don't have.  If I throw $70 into a business venture, then I've lost $70 and some time.  I come back knowing there is some part of my plan was a failure, and I work on that part. 

But if that business you started with the $100,000 loan fails, you still have that $700 per month payment.  You can't give up and walk away, knowing that the idea you were trying wasn't as great as you thought it was.  Because that's the real kicker.  No matter how great you think your idea is, you have to convince other people of that as well.  That's marketing.  And that's another set of books and skills you need to learn.

the end of break time

I almost feel like I should return to the "to-don't" list for my own needs.   But the vacation brain is setting in and I'm not sure there is much to stop it. 
I
 know the plan ahead, and it is going to be long days and long nights for a long time.  There is no other option.  To be broke the rest of my life is not an option.  I am unwilling to "settle" and to lay down and die the life of mediocrity disillusionment.  I know this is what will happen because I know the way out, and it screams to my face.  I just have to quit blubbering and get on with it.  There is no other option, none at all.  There is just the way forward. 

As for the moral imperative to be rich, it's there.  God doesn't want his people to live just barely making it.  And the plan is laid out in Proverbs...

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth

So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands:  Go - to the point of exhaustion - and give your neighbor no rest!  Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.  Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!  It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

Proverbs 6: 1-8 NIV

To translate for those who don't speak Bible: get your lazy butt up, go to work, and get more jobs.  Quit being lazy and pay off all that debt. 
If you really want to shock yourself, count out how much debt you pay out every month.  The number will surprise you.  If you don't have the cash to invest for retirement, then that is probably why.  You spend all your money making other people rich and not yourself.
Debt is dumb, and there is no way around it.  And the only way out of debt is to work like a crazy fiend, shutting out all excuses and reason.  There is one solution, and that solution is work.  There will be time later for magic with big numbers.  But now... there will be work, and more work, and more work.

A long day, and a short blog

After a long night followed by a long day, I have this to say...


Many highly complex problems are solved by simple solutions. 

A label maker is worth its weight in gold, and should be used liberally. 

Shoddy, incompetent tech support delays real working solutions longer than need be. 

Just because "that's the way everyone else does it" doesn't mean we want to do it that way. 

Empowering individuals to solve problems can cause major problems.

Empowering individuals to solve problems is worth ten times the revenue lost during that one major problem.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

If you want a different result, do things differently.


That is all for today.

The Moral Imperative to Become Rich

The Moral Imperative to be Rich

Each and every person has a moral imperative to become rich.  That sounds weird because we are taught "the meek shall inherit the Earth".  That's all based off Psalm 37:11 and Matthew 5:5.

In context so we don't miss something,

Psalm 37:11 NIV

But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.

Matthew 5:5 NIV

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 

Going with the "meek shall inherit the earth" theme is pretty simple.  Misguided people use it to justify why YOU and not them should be poor.  But, they are wrong because they use the Bible out of context to justify why people shouldn't try and succeed.

I say out of context because they ignore several important bits.

Psalm 24:1 NIV The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

Also, 1 Corinthians 10:26 NKJV for "the earth is the Lords's, and all its fullness."

What does that tell me, and this is what the Bible really means by "the meek shall inherit the earth". 

MONEY IS NOT YOURS.  POSSESSIONS ARE NOT YOURS.

As Jesus put it... 

Luke 20:20-25
Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.  Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, "Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?"

"Caesar’s," they replied.

 He said to them, "Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s."

Here, Jesus harkened back to Psalm 24:1.  Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's is a statement designed to see if those religious teachers actually believed and followed the law of God.  Fun fact: they didn't. To clarify so there is nothing left to chance: everything is Gods.  As I heard from Dave Ramsey one time, "he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and the hills too."

Being meek is the understanding that everything I have has been given to me through the grace of God and his blessings.  It's an understanding that I can do nothing without God.  It's also an understanding that

Ok, so the money I go out and work for isn't mine.  So what am I supposed to do with it?  Give 10 percent to God and use the rest as you see fit.  You need to think differently about money, wealth, and possessions.  You need to think as if you were an employee of a major corporation, using their money and items. 

Most people don't treat their work equipment like they treat their own equipment.  But that's the way you have to think about it.  I have a business cell phone.  I treat it like a business cell phone.  I know at any time, I may have to give it up and potentially get a new cell phone.  The laptop I use is a work laptop.  I spend so much time at work, my laptop bleeds into my personal life.  But I still know this laptop belongs to my company.  If they want it back, they will take it back. 

I try to think about all my possessions in that way.  I try and manage money as if I am managing it for someone else.  As such, I spend a lot of time budgeting and figuring out how the cash will flow and the bills will get paid.  All that has to happen for the company (you, INC) to stay in business.  I might go into budgeting later.  But a lot of others have said much better things than I have.  Check out Dave Ramsey, Larry Winget, or Jim Cramer.

Now, if you don't believe in God, then this probably isn't going to help you.

But, if you don't believe in God then you might as well acquire as much as you can because being broke sucks. 

Next time, unless I get distracted...  more on the moral imperative to become rich.