It's Never Too Late for the Truth

Much like any customer-oriented job, system administration is a service industry position. Yes, you're an IT professional, but customer service is your real job. I know that we all believe, falsely, that we work with computers. We tell the world, "I'm a computer person," but in reality, "You're a people person." We are no different from restaurant waitstaff. We play a roll. We deliver service. We do things behind the scenes that one hopes will make our customers (users) happy and more efficient. Our job is to please them. Don't roll your eyes or sigh: Allow me to recount an experience before you turn the page and look for something more technical to read.

I recently related a story to one of my colleagues that described a situation where I argued (belabored) my point about a particular decision I felt was not only incorrect, but downright detrimental. I punctuated my brilliant story with, "I don't suffer fools gladly." He stared into the great beyond before looking at me and wisely retorted, "You know, Ken, only about 1 percent of what you're paid for is your subject matter knowledge and skill set. The other 99 percent of what you're paid for is to suffer fools gladly."

I laughed.

After parting ways, I thought about his words with discernment. I pondered the concept at some length and concluded that his assertion is 1,000 percent correct. I looked back on my career and my many personnel conflicts over the years and that little imaginary light bulb went on over my head. Could it be that this is my 42 and that the answer to the ultimate question of my purpose in life as a system administrator is to suffer fools gladly? I was both shocked and intrigued. I, surprisingly, was speechless at the whole scenario that had just played out in my head.

I realized for the first time that I'm not really a computer guy at all – I'm a customer caregiver. I'm merely the food server between the kitchen (data center) and the hungry customer (end user). This realization didn't put me into the tailspin you might have assumed it would. In fact, I took a deep breath and decided that, had I known my actual roll 30 years ago, my life and my career would have gone so much differently than it has. I've had a good and productive career, but I would have had fewer conflicts and a happier existence if I'd had this conversation in my early days.

This epiphany has taken a huge weight off me. I never knew how high-strung I was until I allowed myself to relax and enjoy a day at work. The tension in my jaws released. I never noticed that I kept my stomach in knots until I didn't. I've been a coiled snake ready to strike for most of my days – fangs out waiting for a victim to trip my snare or enter my domain uninvited with a dumb question or silly request. I was the rubber band, stretched too tight, waiting to snap at the first sign of some unreasonable rule or ridiculous new hoop to jump through.

Sure, it might just be me. You might never have experienced these feelings. If not, congratulations for having figured it out for yourself. If you have, I hope this story helps you as much as it has me. One of the positive attributes is that I listen to wisdom and glean new behaviors from it. I try to learn from others' mistakes so that I don't have to repeat them. Conflicts are bound to happen, no matter what you do or how wise you are. That's just human nature. How you handle those conflicts is the difference between living a peaceful, productive life and living one on the edge of despair. Being perpetually angry and uptight is not a good look for anyone, and it makes for an exhausting existence. Remember that no matter how much you know, how adept you are at typing commands or rebooting computers, suffering fools gladly is what you're paid to do. Everything else is just screen time.

Ken Hess * Senior ADMIN Editor