Don’t be afraid of that title – I’m not talking about Six Sigma or anything super-formal here. In many organizations, there are more folks in other IT roles than in the Data Professional area. In other words, there are more developers, system administrators and so on than there are the “DBA” role. That means we often have more to do than the ...

Most of us know that there's a lot to learn. I'm teaching a class this morning, and even on the subject where I'm the ''expert'' (that word always makes me nervous!) I still have a lot to learn. To learn, sometimes I take a class, read a book, or carve out a large chunk of time so that I can fully grasp the subject. But since I've been working, I ...

Many people use the New Year as a time when they promise themselves to behave differently. They plan to be healthier, eat less, workout more and so on. My family and I have for several years had a similar tradition. We find a restaurant that is open early on New Year’s day (no small feat) and sit down with a little leather-bound book I write in. ...

I do lot of cooking, and I was taught to prepare everything ahead of time, and put everything in its place – something called “Mise en Place”. I chop everything and put it in little bowls, measure out the spices, lay out all of the pots and pans and so on, all before I turn on the oven or stove. It forces me to plan, and to be ready to put ...