Abstract

I have been watching some art restoration videos on YouTube recently, specifically Baumgartner Restoration, and it has made me think about how I work. Specifically some of the “best practices” that I try to employ for my job, and if there are any lessons that I can learn from other trades and crafts that could help with my trade and craft. While I am attempting to generalize some of these concepts; I do work in tech, and many of these observations will be centered around that thought process.

Make a plan

Having a plan in mind is always a good place to start with anything; the plan doesn’t have to be extremely specific or complicated, but it is good to get into the habit of at least outlining a plan in your head before starting something. Building this habit will help when taking on more complex tasks or projects as it will make you take a few minutes to think about what needs to be done and in what order.

Be flexible

While the planning stage of a project is very important, it also tends to not last until the end of the project. Plans for complex projects and tasks tend not to survive those projects and/or tasks. Flexibility is a skill that is just as important as planning is, because flexibility means that you can survive when the plan falls apart, and they will fall apart.

Work on destructively

Working “non-destructively” is a term that I learned in college referring to photo editing. It’s a fairly self-explanatory term and means do not make changes that damages the original. When working in photo editing software, it is common to make a copy layer of the original photo and edit the copied layer while hiding the original. It’s done that way so that if mistakes are made, the original photo is not lost and the project has to be completely restarted, or canceled altogether.

Most IT professionals likely follow a similar principle, but possibly by a different name. Take a snapshot before doing something that could break the system, or backup the original config before changing the running config on a switch or router. The idea isn’t a new one, and not even that novel, but is one that I find extremely helpful to keep in mind.

Standardization and categorization

Categorizing problems and standardizing solutions to those types of problems are useful because it speeds up the planning process. You will not have to actively think about a plan as much if there is already a standardized way to handle a particular situation. Sometimes this isn’t possible as the issue is unique or has not be encountered before, but many issues can be categorized.

Having clear naming conventions is also important, as it helps the person doing the work (you at a later date, or someone else) find what they are looking for. Having random, non-descriptive names makes it very difficult for people to know what the thing does or is for. Even if it makes sense to you right now, think about what you come back in six months and have forgotten everything you are doing right now, will it make sense then?