I've had a writing proposal approved by ChangeThis!, a website that publishes articles called "manifestos" related to change. My proposal, titled "Reimagining Work," is up for a vote on the site. If enough people vote for it, I'll be able to write it and ChangeThis! will publish it.
So click the title, read the proposal (it's short!), and click the Vote button!
Did you know that you can control the name of your controfile trace backups? I didn't, until Bob Morgan of Stonehill College in Easton, MA pointed out some additional syntax in the ALTER DATABASE command.
I already knew that you could control the filename and location when backing up the controlfile in binary, via:
ALTER DATABASE BACKUP CONTROLFILE TO '<pathame>';
And I knew that you could get a text copy of the commands necessary to rebuild the controlfiles, via:
ALTER DATABASE BACKUP CONTROLFILE TO TRACE;
The resulting text commands are placed in the user's trace file for the session. To find the proper trace file requires knowing the session number; it's in the filename. (Though I usually cheat, and go to the directory pointed to by the user_dump_dest parameter, sort by modification time, and my session is near the top.)
What Bob pointed out was the variation:
ALTER DATABASE BACKUP CONTROLFILE TO TRACE AS '<filename>';
This still writes to the backup_dump_dest directory, but names the tracefile with your choice of filename instead of the default one that includes the session number. Much easier to find.
Thanks, Bob!
I think it was The Inner Game of Tennis, by Timothy Gallwey, that first taught me this lesson: when you are preparing for a class, prepare. But when it comes time to stand up in front and start the class, train.
You may not feel as prepared as you would like to be. The conditions may not be as ideal as you would like them to be. But once class starts, you are who you are, and the conditions are what they are. You go for it. You give your current self to the group, just as you are, and you do your best. You train.
It's hard to stop the inner, critical voice that reacts when you make a mistake. It's hard not to wince or get flustered when your lesson plan just plain doesn't work for a given group. But training is as much a performance as a play (except that many of the lines are not scripted), and the show must go on. Adapt, go where it takes you in the moment.
Of course, you can and should review your performance in the classroom. Every time. But you do that afterwards, when the room is empty or you're at yet another chain restaurant having dinner. There have been weeks when I've devoted my hotel time to staying one day ahead of the students, constantly reviewing the day just past and prepping like mad for the day to come.
Disney is a model for me in this regard. In their theme parks, they have "on stage" and "off stage" areas. When you're on stage, in front of paying customers, you're expected to be in character the whole time, even if you're not on duty and just passing from one place to the next. No gossiping about your friends or school, no talk of religion, politics, or sex. That's for off stage, when you're behind the scenes. Some criticize this, saying that it is artificial and inhumane for workers to be unable to be themselves. But I think it's the one key thing that makes going to a Disney park different than other ones. You're immersed in the story, and they're careful to eliminate anything that distracts from that experience.
When you're training, you're on stage too. Play the part the best you know how. Then later, off stage, plan how you're going to make it an even better show next time.
In his best-selling business book In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters profiles companies such as Hewlett-Packard and United Airlines that practice "Management By Walking Around" (MBWA for short). Management is encouraged to get out of the office and into the field as often as possible to see things firsthand.
Too often, trainers feel constrained by the podium or other setup at the front of the room. They lecture from one spot, and answer questions from the front as well. "Training By Walking Around" means circulating in the room, teaching from various points.
Using a variety of media (computer, white board, easel, etc.) can help get you moving. It also provides variety to hold the attendees' attention.
This is especially important during lab exercises. It's tempting to retreat behind the front desk at such times; after all, you've been standing and talking, and now is your chance to sit, right? Wrong. Try this experiment: during a lab, ask if anyone needs anything. Usually, you'll get no responses. A minute later, casually get up and walk up and down the aisles. Chances are, someone will stop you and ask a question.
I will usually sit for the first five to ten minutes of a lab, then circulate, asking if everyone has gotten started okay. After another five to ten minutes, I'll circulate again, asking if anyone needs "another pair of eyes" to look at an error message. Before the end of the lab, I'll make another pass silently. Usually by then people are stuck on a particular problem and will call me over as I pass by them.
I've even taught from the back of the classroom. I'd been presenting for a while, and could tell the group needed an energizer. So I had them all stand and turn around, and I walked to the back (which was now in front of them.) I did a contest quiz with a prize -- but because they were facing away from their notes and the computers, they couldn't reference them! We laughed about this, the act of standing re-energized the group, and we continued normally afterwards.
One of my earliest mentors in training gave me many immensely valuable pieces of advice. And two that I've learned to ignore. I was thinking about this today while re-reading an old classic, Teacher as Servant: A Parable, by Robert K. Greenleaf (now out of print, but available used). So, here are two bits of advice I learned to ignore.
1. "Always perpetuate the illusion that in the classroom, you are God."
By that, I'm sure he meant to say that one must establish and maintain credibility. Once credibility is lost in a class, you seldom have the chance to regain it with that group. It's also important to maintain the authority that keeps you in control of the classroom process. But I've found it more useful to consider myself a servant of the group than its master. Yes, it's my job to maintain control; but only because they're paying me to do it, and because it serves their best interests for me to do so.
As usual, there are exceptions to every rule. I had one class that consisted entirely of highly-paid business consultants. I was told up front by their manager that it was a smart-alecky group that would give me trouble unless tightly managed. So I went in with the Top Gun approach, very authoritarian, but at the same time letting them know that "You're the best - but we're going to make you better."
2. "When you are doing class introductions, try to identify up front who the troublemakers are."
I tried this exactly once. And I got what I expected: troublemakers. I haven't done it since. Now I expect up front that everyone in class is going to have fun, learn a lot, and contribute. It doesn't always happen that way, of course, but I think my expectations and mindset help it to happen more than it otherwise would.
The night before a class, as I'm falling asleep, I repeat to myself the affirmation (in present tense), "This is the best class I've ever had."
Anyone who knows me knows I'm a BIG Tom Kyte fan.
Tom's published his list of New Years Resolutions for 2009, and the top of the list is "Practice a restore at least once a month." You can read the rest of the resolutions here:
http://www.oracle.com/newsletters/information-indepth/database-insider/jan-09/kyte.html
(Thanks to Chen Shapira on Twitter for the pointer to this.)
Esther Schindler of CIO.com has a great article on PC World, listing 17 Telecommuting Disadvantages. One of them, #8, is all about the annoyances of teleconferences -- but if you flip those annoyances around, they become training tips.
...people who lead teleconferences (with a half dozen participants) and start out by saying, "Who's here?" Doing so makes everyone on the phone wonder if it's their turn to speak up...
Tip: take roll call instead, using the list of invited participants. Starting out this way also puts you squarely in control of the meeting. If possible, use web conferencing where rollcall is always available on the screen.
Organizers who show up late. Telecommuters are stuck listening to music-on-hold for ten minutes, during which they wonder, "Was today the right day? Did I miss the meeting?"
Tip: Be there early if you're leading a session. Just like in the classroom, being early means you get to welcome everyone individually and establish rapport before the group session starts.
People who refer to a lot of visuals without bothering to send the file to telecommuters; and then they don't refer aloud to the data they're pointing at.
Tip: Reference at least the slide title (and slide number -- you do put slide numbers on your slides, don't you?) when referring to visuals.
[A big thank you to Twitter user Reg Saddler (zaibatsu) for the link to this great article!]
When I got started in training, the pencil-type laser pointer was over $100. Needless to say, I found other ways to point at the screen (hand shadows being the primary one).
Recently, I finally broke down and got a laser pointer, which I keep in my trainer kit. The cost? Only $3, in a clearance bin at Walgreens. It was sold as a cat toy: a way to put a spot of light on the wall for cats to chase around. (It also puts up an image of a mouse, a butterfly, a star, and my favorite, a smiley face.)
The use of laser diodes in mass-market equipment such as CD and DVD players has lowered their production cost so far that now they can be sold as toys, not $100 professional tools. I don't care what it says on the package, it's a dandy training aid.
On the other hand, training is often compared to herding cats, so maybe the package description is appropriate.
NOTE: Do not put this in your carry-on luggage. It's considered a weapon and forbidden by the TSA, so pack it with your trainer kit in your checked luggage.
I've just finished creating the test environment I'm going to use to prepare for the 11g OCP upgrade test. Instead of installing directly on a lab machine as I've done before, I decided to do this one inside a VMWare virtual machine. Here are some notes on what I did, while they're fresh in my mind.
Don't you just love the Internet? I found an excellent step-by-step install guide by John Smiley, and it really shortened the learning curve. It also contains links to the download sites for Oracle Enterprise Linux 5, which is functionally similar to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, and Oracle Database 11gR1.
VMWare layer:
I created a VM with 1024Mb memory, a single 20GB hard disk, one network adapter bridged. I don't plan to do RAC scenarios with this image, it's just for the basics, so I kept it simple. I can add more virtual hard drives to it later to practice ASM.
Linux layer:
I used Oracle Enterprise Linux 5, downloaded from Oracle. I followed the install instructions from Oracle-Base, which included details on disk partitioning. OEL5 includes 5 CD images as .iso files, but the install only required the first 3.
On my first attempt, I did as the Oracle notes suggested and did a default install of packages. But this led to problems later with missing libraries needed by various RPMs. So, I started over, selected "Customize Now" instead of "Customize Later," and followed instructions I had used successfully with 10gR2 in terms of which packages to include and not:
This worked much better.
I then followed the Oracle instructions exactly for preparing the OS for Oracle, in terms of adding several additional RPMs, setting kernel parameters, creating security groups and creating the oracle user.
Oracle installation:
My first try failed due to unzipping all the files on my Windows machine and burning an ISO image. I got permissions errors when trying to start the Oracle Universal Installer. So, I reburned the image with just the ZIP file as downloaded by Oracle, and unzipped it within the Linux environment. The rest of the install was textbook.
Throughout, I used the VMware Workstation 6.5 snapshot feature, taking snapshots of the base Linux machine, Linux machine plus additional packages, Linux machine plus customizations for Oracle, and finally after the successful install. I connected with sqlplus and was rewarded with the opening banner giving the version as 11.1.0.6.0.
Let the studying begin! Oh wait, it already has.
New candidates for Oracle's entry level DBA certification must now pass an exam on SQL, in addition to the existing requirement for passing the Database Administration I test. The Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) credential is the first rung in Oracle's 3-step DBA certification ladder. The change went into effect December 1st, 2008.
According to the Oracle University website, any of four exams will meet the requirement:
Existing OCAs and OCPs do not have to fulfill the additional requirement. Their upgrade paths remain the same.
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