The movie Elf came out in 2003 and every time I watch it I enjoy it more and more. It’s one of those movies where everything just works. It’s a silly story, brought to life by silly people, and told in a silly way.
I can’t help but smile when our family sits down to watch.
Last night it occurred to me how many lessons there are in the movie for DBAs and sysadmins in general. So I decided to write a quick holiday post today using quotes from the movie.
As always, you’re welcome.
“Why are you smiling like that? I just like to smile, smiling’s my favorite. Make work your favorite. That’s your new favorite.”
Because smiling is a good thing that we should all do more, no matter how your manager might react to seeing you smile so much. Besides, you can always meditate as needed.
“You stink. You smell like beef and cheese! You don’t smell like Santa.”
When you are sitting in a meeting and someone starts pretending to be an expert in something you know they are not. As tempting as it might be to call them out it is probably best for you to talk to them privately afterwards. After all, maybe they do have experience in that area, or perhaps they have some need for speaking up during the meeting you don’t know about yet.
“We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”
Because it wouldn’t hurt you to walk around the block once in a while. Even with my well-documented bacon addiction, nutrition and health are important topics for me. So important that I wrote a chapter in my book about the topic.
“You did it! Congratulations! World’s best cup of coffee! Great job, everybody! It’s great to be here.”
We all need to do a better job of recognizing the good work being done by our peers. I have seen too many examples of people taking credit for others work through my years. The best teams are the teams that make the extra effort to help and support one another. As a manager (or coach) I go out of my way to praise my team when things are going well and accept responsibility for when they are not.
“What about this: a tribe of asparagus children, but they’re self-conscious about the way their pee smells.”
Try to remember that when brainstorming there are no bad ideas. That being said, sometimes you are going to hear the most ridiculous statements in meetings. Statements such as “once we get the high availability solution in place we won’t need to worry about disaster recovery anymore“. Just remember to treat others the way you want to be treated.
“Hey, jackweed, I get more action in a week than you’ve had in your entire life. I’ve got houses in L.A., Paris and Vail. In each one, a 70 inch plasma screen. So I suggest you wipe that stupid smile off your face before I come over there and SMACK it off! You feeling strong, my friend? Call me elf one more time.”
Every now and then someone comes into your office looking for an argument. How you choose to deal with this is up to you, but I find it is best to demonstrate some empathy and find out the motivation for the person to feel the need to argue or debate the topic. You need to use empathy to find their MacGuffin to understand what it is they are truly after.
“I’m in love, I’m in love, and I don’t care who knows it!!”
When you find some piece of technology or code script from a blog that helps make your life a little bit easier. It just makes you want to jump up and tell everyone just how happy you are.
“This place reminds me of Santa’s Workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms and everyone looks like they want to hurt me.”
This is how you feel when you walk into the office during some emergency, or into the 37-person status meeting that comes after the disaster is contained. Even if you have saved the day (likely true), most folks will hold you responsible for things breaking anyway (definitely true).
“First we’ll make snow angels for a two hours, then we’ll go ice skating, then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can, and then we’ll snuggle.”
Your to-do list is way too long. Multi-tasking is the biggest mistake you make each day. Learn to recognize what tasks you can complete in a day, a week, a month, and a year. And make sure you leave time for emergencies. I don’t mean disasters, either. I mean the “drop-by” tasks where someone calls you and asks for you to stop everything you are doing in order to help them with something.
“Why don’t you just say it? I’m the worst toy-maker in the world. I’m a Cotton-Headed Ninnymuggins!”
Because we all feel that we have done something wrong, are in over our heads, or are imposters in general. We get frustrated and down on ourselves with whatever task is at hand. It can be slippery slope, too, especially if you are not surrounded by a good team that makes an effort to show you some praise every now and then.
“Why the long face partner? I’m not an elf. Of course you’re not. You’re six-foot-three and you’ve had a beard since you were fifteen.”
Every now and then you need to tell someone the truth, no matter if it is what they want to hear or not. I’d prefer to surround myself with colleagues that are willing to speak openly and honestly to me, and I suspect most people would appreciate that as well.
“The yellow ones don’t stop.”
This is a good reminder that there are some events, and some people, that will steamroll over you in life. How you deal with such events and adversity will serve as the foundation for your career. If you can’t see the yellow ones coming, then you are likely to have short careers at many places. If you look both ways before crossing, or get back up after being run over, you are likely to find yourself acquiring the leadership skills necessary to advance.
“I’m here with my dad/ And we never met/ And he wants me to sing him a song/ And I was adopted, but you didn’t know I was born/ So I’m here now/ I found you, Daddy/ And guess what, I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOOOUU!”
This serves as a great example for when you need to improvise. Being able to think, and articulate your thoughts to others, are critical skills that are lacking in IT today. Being an effective communicator is the best way to stand out among your peers.
“The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.”
Because it’s Christmas, and I want to remind everyone how easy it is to spread some Christmas cheer this year.
