This month’s invitation from Kay asks us to look back through the year and consider those who we are thankful for.
Whilst I should be thanking those close to me for their ongoing support through a lot this year – the fact of it is that they aren’t the type of folks to be reading a blog about SQL Server. Please don’t tell them.
So, I wanted to focus on some folks who may be more relatable to those working in and around technology. I wanted to thank everyone who has given us opportunities of all types. For me these would be:
The community who shares so much content particularly around SQL Server which is ready available to consume to any depth you need. It can be anything from a one-line example of the syntax to start running with, real world examples and advice for common hang-ups, or deep dives into how part of a query is executed under the hood. It’s all at our fingertips and available 24/7 if we want it.
We lean on our community so much when gathering knowledge or differing perspectives and this year has been no different for me. The volume of content is unending and the quality is outstanding. Every single individual has their place in this community sharing their perspective and is greatly appreciated. This is a big part of the reason why I blog myself and hopefully I can add even a little value into it to make up for my copious consumption over the years.
Next up are the teachers who give their time to not only demonstrate the what but also explain and discuss to understand the why and how. Having teachers who not only share some knowledge but also their time to help solidify concepts is crucial. It’s not the “we do it like this”, it’s the “because” which adds the context and understanding of why and how it fits into the wider picture.
Learning can be a steep curve as I’ve found this year being relatively new into a large organisation. Having an experienced team who have been so open in sharing has been instrumental. Moreover it’s been the time they have given to dive deeper, discuss further, and go over and above what was needed. They have been incredibly generous and I am thankful to them all.
I truly believe that being immersed in something is key to giving the confidence to make decisions, identify opportunities, and contribute to those in a meaningful way.
Last, and likely most important of all would be the relationships which have been built over many years through all we do. We have those closest to us who we live and work with week to week and support us through the challenges live throws our way. We also have those just outside of that close circle – those who we may not connect with like we used to but we know are always there, those we can be open and honest with, and critically – we can trust.
Through my career with data I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside some amazing people and we’ve built relationships through our various adventures together. This certainly showed vey recently when I was offered an opportunity due to the relationships which had been built and experiences shared historically and a chance meeting at a social event.
I have huge thanks to those who offered me this recent opportunity but I’m also extremely thankful for all of the relationships which have been formed and strengthened throughout this year.
I hope that what I provide via this blog can support our community with these small contributions, that through the posts here and the work I do that I can be the teacher for a few people and they gain better insights from those learnings, and that I can add as much in my relationships as they provide to me.
I am very fortunate to have been surrounded by a special group of folks throughout this year, and to any of them who I’ve spent time with for any of the reasons above – I thank you all sincerely for what we’ve shared.
Andy Brownsword 