From Something to Nothing (and back)

This paper addresses the experience that I have had in making the transition from technician (UNIX systems administrator variety) to management. It discusses some of the issues that I have had to cope with in this unfamiliar territory. If this paper has any management-speak in it, it is only because I have included it by accident, as my background is as a technician. I won’t say that nothing, but likely very little, in this paper has anything to do with management theory; rather it is just the experience that I have had over the past several years. Introduction – A Brief History It’s been seven years since I presented my first LISA paper (Monterey) and six since my last (Austin), and something has happened to me in the intervening years. Where could six years of my life have gone? Have I done anything interesting in System Administration in this time? Have I done anything interesting in *any* field in this time? I’d like to address this paper to those system administrators who have grown from their technical roots and branched into what from a technician’s point of view, appears to be nothing and to those who may one day step into the void. My daughters visited the office with me last fall and when we went home at the end of the day, they said "Mom, all you do is talk all day. What’s your job?" I tried to explain to them that I go to meetings, I talk to people and I read (and sometimes answer) my mail. But after saying this, I realized that I too felt like I didn’t really "do" anything anymore. I didn’t have xmeters running on my screen watching the machines; I had extracted myself from any mailing list that actually monitors machines; I delayed in learning PERL until nearly every other human on the planet knew more than I did about it; I hadn’t written a useful script of any kind in a very long time; I was feeling quite dissatisfied about the amount of work that I would get done in any day; sadly, I had become a manager. Persisting in this depression much longer than anyone would like, I finally snapped out and realized that not only do I do something; I go to meetings, I talk to people and I read (and sometimes answer) my mail; but that what I do is important and clearly some of the techniques that I’m using are valuable. This revelation occurred after returning to work after being sick (and I couldn’t work from home) and finding a huge pile of things that needed attention on my desk and in my mailbox. And, not one of my technicians (system administrators) had attended to these matters. In fact, several projects were waiting for me to help them along to the next step. Making The Transition Making the transition from technician to supervisor has been one of the most challenging of my career. I am (IMHO) a good technician and from my annual reviews, my supervisors have agreed. Why was I picked to be the supervisor of a growing group? Well, to be perfectly honest, I was the group. So because of seniority, technical skill and potential (all nonsense in this case), I became the supervisor. Now, several years later, the group has seven members, and I am in the process of hiring four more as I write this paper. We have already started usurping available people from other groups just to keep up with our projects. Two of these will be transferred to my group when the current hiring process is over, giving a grand total of thirteen. It has not been an easy road and supervising twelve people is not at all like supervising one or two.