Who Wants to be Average?

Average sucks. We're taught that from a young age, mostly by example. The fastest kid in class is the Jock. The smartest kid tends to be the Geek. Even the ugliest kid stands out as non-average.

I am average.

Most IT personnel stand out in some discipline within the realm of computers. Some are good programmers (ie "coders"), able to kick out productive applications with little more than 24 hours, no interruptions, plenty of caffiene and the occasional pizza. Some are good network analysts, capable of mentally following a packet or frame through a network and finding where it's no longer welcome. Still others are great at security, digging out trojans and 'bot engines from deep within a hacked system.

I can do all of that...just not particularly 'expert' enough to get noticed. I can code...but I need a book to remember what the comment prefix is for the language of the moment. I can analyze a network...but I need a cheat sheet to remember that TCP445 is Microsoft's Directory Services protocol and why I'd care. Security is fun but I have to have a load of whitehat hack tools on a USB drive to really understand anything on a system. And the only hex I can read is when the editor's ASCII interpreter is on and I see "dood ur h@xd!" in the code. That's usually a good clue. ;-)

But, oddly enough, this has worked for me. None of it is a mystery to me. I understand the concepts behind any and all IT disciplines. I can't sit down at any expert tech's desk and do his job. No way and I'll admit it to any CEO or manager who insists that I do it. Ain't my thing. But I get what that tech needs to do his job and how I can make his work more efficient. And I understand what the network guys need to do their job better. And I recognize the BS that the sales guys start throwing around, thinking the manager is more interested in the Buzzword of the Day (BotD) than actual performance of product. Although, admittedly, if they bring in the Hot Saleslady, I tend to get distracted for a few minutes.

So average isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm not an expert in any one field. I manage projects, fix servers, build the occasional workstation, guide users through how to attach a file to their e-mail, and make sure the network is functioning for my customers. When I need help, I call someone. When I really need help, I call lots of people. Otherwise, I just get through my average day.

It's working so far. Let's see how long it lasts.