In previous posts in this “My Life” blog series, I’ve written quite a bit about the project management/on-task aspects of how I keep my focus and direction top of mind while I practice and place emphasis on my goals. But, what happens when something doesn’t work?
In some cases, the task we’re trying to accomplish may be just too hard. In some cases, we’re just not there yet. Practice, in this case, is the right answer. As my french horn teacher used to say, "Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." The problem, particularly in my guitar playing, is that I’m flying a little blind because I have no teacher helping me to practice perfectly. But, imagine a tricky chord sequence that has had me failing during practice. If I don’t burn through the changes as often as possible in my practice time, I’ll definitely fail when I’m on stage, attempting to play it in front of a live audience.
In an effort to avoid the embarrassment of that failure, I sandbox. At least that’s how I see it.
The same analogy can be transposed to my thoughts about implementing a new build of a server, an application that may or may not work in my VMware architecture, etc. We don’t want to see these things fail in production, so we test them out as developer-type machines in our sandbox. This is a truly practical approach. By making sure that all testing has taken place prior to launching a new application in production, we're helping to ensure that we'll experience as little downtime as possible.
I look at these exercises as an effort to enable a high degree of functionality.
The same can be said as it reflects on training myself to sleep better, or to gain efficiency in my exercise regime. If I were to undertake a new weightlifting program, and my lifts are poorly executed, I could strain a muscle or muscle group. How would that help me? It wouldn’t. I work out without a trainer, so I rely on the resources that are available to me, such as YouTube, to learn and improve. And when I’ve got a set of motions down pat, the new exercise gets rolled into my routine. Again, I’ve sandboxed and learned what lessons I need to know by trial and error. This helps me avoid potentially hazardous roadblocks, and in the case of my guitar, not looking like a fool. Okay, let’s be clear... avoid looking more like a fool than usual.
I know that this doesn’t feel spontaneous. Actually, it isn’t. Again, as I relate it to musical performance, the correlation is profound. If I know via practice and a degree of comfort with the material, it allows my improvisation to take place organically. I always know where I am, and where I want to be in the midst of a performance, and thus, my capacity to improvise can open up. My Life as IT Code: Part Four - Exercise and Sandbox
In previous posts in this “My Life” blog series, I’ve written quite a bit about the project management/on-task aspects of how I keep my focus and direction top of mind while I practice and place emphasis on my goals. But, what happens when something doesn’t work?
In some cases, the task we’re trying to accomplish may be just too hard. In some cases, we’re just not there yet. Practice, in this case, is the right answer. As my french horn teacher used to say, "Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." The problem, particularly in my guitar playing, is that I’m flying a little blind because I have no teacher helping me to practice perfectly. But, imagine a tricky chord sequence that has had me failing during practice. If I don’t burn through the changes as often as possible in my practice time, I’ll definitely fail when I’m on stage, attempting to play it in front of a live audience.
In an effort to avoid the embarrassment of that failure, I sandbox. At least that’s how I see it.
The same analogy can be transposed to my thoughts about implementing a new build of a server, an application that may or may not work in my VMware architecture, etc. We don’t want to see these things fail in production, so we test them out as developer-type machines in our sandbox. This is a truly practical approach. By making sure that all testing has taken place prior to launching a new application in production, we're helping to ensure that we'll experience as little downtime as possible.
I look at these exercises as an effort to enable a high degree of functionality.
The same can be said as it reflects on training myself to sleep better, or to gain efficiency in my exercise regime. If I were to undertake a new weightlifting program, and my lifts are poorly executed, I could strain a muscle or muscle group. How would that help me? It wouldn’t. I work out without a trainer, so I rely on the resources that are available to me, such as YouTube, to learn and improve. And when I’ve got a set of motions down pat, the new exercise gets rolled into my routine. Again, I’ve sandboxed and learned what lessons I need to know by trial and error. This helps me avoid potentially hazardous roadblocks, and in the case of my guitar, not looking like a fool. Okay, let’s be clear... avoid looking more like a fool than usual.
I know that this doesn’t feel spontaneous. Actually, it isn’t. Again, as I relate it to musical performance, the correlation is profound. If I know via practice and a degree of comfort with the material, it allows my improvisation to take place organically. I always know where I am, and where I want to be in the midst of a performance, and thus, my capacity to improvise can open up. 
