Chapter 4 Don’t Panic
In the world of networking and when dealing with critical problems, the absolutely worst thing you can do is panic. This is especially true when you’re working with eDirectory. In traditional network troubleshooting, changes that are made are typically easy to undo. For example, if you are working on a routing problem, you can change a setting in the router that disables packet forwarding on a particular interface and observe the change in the environment; if the change does not affect the problem the way you thought it would, you can (easily) change the setting back.
However, when you’re working with eDirectory, certain changes are easy to make but are extremely difficult to undo. As you will read in later chapters, it takes a thorough understanding of how eDirectory works combined with a full understanding of what the problem actually is to determine a proper course of corrective action.
It is not uncommon for a network administrator to run into a situation that demands immediate attention. Critical eDirectory problems tend to have fairly high visibility—either because the problem affects users’ ability to log in and do the work that makes the company run or because a major piece of network functionality is affected. For example, printing might be offline. Users may be able to work on documents but unable to print out the sales reports that upper management needs to see every day by 10:00 a.m.
In this sort of high-visibility (not to mention high-stress) environment, it is very easy to fall into the trap of doing something for the sake of just doing something. Compounding this, upper management often does not understand the intricacies of what makes the network tick, but they certainly can identify when the person who is responsible for fixing the problem is not doing anything about it.
Doing something for the sake of doing something is almost always counterproductive. It is easy to make a change at the server and then when upper management wants to know what you are doing about the problem, you can say “I changed this, this, and this.” This is an easy out but can actually make the problem resolution process take much longer because of new factors introduced to the problem that have actually made the situation worse.
This book is about the technical aspects of working with and fixing eDirectory problems, but we want to diverge for a second and talk about how to deal with the difficult situation of working with people and stress. If not handled properly, they can have a very negative impact on your ability to deal with the eDirectory problems effectively.
The vast majority of technical people in the IT industry prefer working with machines over working with people. This statement is based largely on many discussions we have had with administrators, engineers, and consultants working in this industry.
Computers are easy to work with. They do what they are told—even if that does not equate to what you want them to do. They wait for you while you have lunch, and they never have a bad attitude or demand that you do something right now.
Conversely, people can be difficult to work with. They do not necessarily do what they are told, interrupt your lunch to have you work on a project they forgot needed to be done right now, and when things are not going their way, they can have a very bad attitude.
People skills are a very important part of a system administrator’s job. You have to be a salesperson, a diplomat, a teacher, a student of technology, and a technical guru all at the same time. It is very difficult to do any of these things well if you have a hard time dealing with people and communicating effectively with them.
Take some time to learn how to interact with the people you work with. Learning how to communicate with them outside a crisis will help you know how to communicate with them effectively during a crisis situation. Learn the best way to tell people that they are in your way and continually interrupting your thought processes by asking when the system is going to be operational again. Let them know that this is not going to help you get things running again any time soon. Different people react differently to being told this, so it is important that you know how best to communicate this information to the people who will invariably seek you out to find out what is going on.
One invaluable skill that people working in IT should master is active listening. The ability to not only listen to what you want to hear but to reflectively respond to co-workers and management lets you get more from the person you are speaking to, making problem analysis more effective and efficient. Many system engineers consider end users and management as deterrents or problems. However, when you look at them as assets, reflectively listening to them in a crisis situation, you gain allies as opposed to combatants, thus making your job a lot easier.
Another tactic that most SEs do not call upon in a crisis—one that helps prevent a panic situation from becoming inflamed—is the knowledge that experience has provided. In a panic situation, if you can simply stop and ask “What did I do, or what did so-and-so do, when faced with a similar situation?” many insurmountable problems have a way of being addressed calmly.
NOTE
It is important to correctly manage the expectation levels of your users, especially those in upper management. Provide them with a time frame that gives you some breathing room (so you are not rushed into doing something rash), but at the same time, do not overexaggerate it in order to try to look like a miracle worker (as depicted in some TV shows) because the ploy almost always backfires. For instance, if you feel the problem can be resolved in 30 minutes, tell your co-workers that the system “should be back up in about an hour.” This gives you some flexibility. However, do not go so far as to tell them it will “take the rest of the morning” because that could place upper management in a crisis mode and force undue stress on you and your co-workers.
TIP
If you are indeed dealing with a major problem, it would be wise to provide frequent updates to your users and management. It is not necessary to provide hourly updates, but several updates (especially when breakthroughs are made) throughout the day can prove useful.
In addition to learning to deal with people effectively, it is important to manage your own stress level in a crisis situation.
Your own stress can be the biggest detriment to getting a problem resolved. Stress creates an environment that is not conducive to clear thinking, and being able to think clearly about what you are seeing and reason through the problem is absolutely critical to resolving a problem.
The following are some techniques you can use to clear your head and perform a type of mental “soft reset”:
Take a walk while DSRepair (or some other automated process) is doing its job.
Close your eyes and count to 10 when you are in front of the server that is exhibiting the problem.
Laugh. This one sometimes brings on strange looks from co-workers, but it really works. Laughter is one of the best stress relievers there is. (Sometimes, having a few copies of Dilbert books around comes in handy.)
Stretch. Stretching helps work out the tension you can get in your neck and shoulders. It often helps you relax, and you can think more clearly and effectively when relaxed.
Other people use other techniques. The important thing is to find out what works for you. When in a crisis situation, it is important that the stress relief method you use is something that can be applied quickly and works quickly. Going on a five-mile jog might be a great stress reliever for you, but when in a crisis situation, this is not likely to be a viable option.