I got into an interesting brief discussion recently, and a key phrase stuck out in my head:
“I prefer to avoid doing systems administration by the seat of my pants”
What does it mean to do IT by the seat of your pants, really? And what is its opposite?
Those who know me well know that I’m fascinated by epistemology, or the study of knowledge. I also enjoy studying language, and where things come from. “By the seat of your pants” has grown from a popular aviation-related phrase into common usage in many forums.
To “fly by the seat of your pants” in modern usage means to decide a course of action as you go along, using your own initiative and perceptions rather than a pre-determined plan or theory.
On the other hand, the original meaning of the phrase comes from early aviation parlance. Aircraft initially had few navigation aids and flying was accomplished by means of the pilot’s judgement. (ref)
On the one hand, we have this largely negative connotation of the phrase implied by the first definition. Most people would interpret this to be a synonym for “underprepared”, “spontaneous”, or “chaotic”. Yet, the original meaning doesn’t mean this at all. It’s a very positive thing. A pilot would use his training, judgement, and skill to bring about a favorable outcome. It didn’t indicate a lack of planning — in fact, quite the opposite. A skillful pilot has to have spent a great deal of time in preparation for a mission, and yet in pre-instrument days, would also have to have an excellent sense of direction, and a knowledge of terrain and problems so thorough as to be little obstacle except in the most extreme circumstances.
The world of systems administration, to me, seems these days to still be a very “seat of the pants” affair. Despite all the time spent training, planning, writing up documents, and preparing for the unexpected, when the time comes that problems arise, more often than not the skill of the computer jockey in that chair is the key between success and failure. No amount of preparation can cover all possible situations.
My opinion? When it comes to systems administration, each admin should aspire to become an excellent “seat of the pants” admin. The big BUT, though, is that one needs to create a great flight plan.
A poorly planned mission is, barring a lucky accident, doomed to failure. A well-planned mission also has a significant chance of failure, but if you have an excellent pilot in the noisy seat, you have a much better chance of pulling through difficult times.
Revisiting this blog post
So here I am with the benefit of a few years experience… and my opinion hasn’t changed much. I’ve learned that, in aviation, a “seat of the pants” feel for something may not be accurate. You need to learn your instruments to tell you information about your aircraft, because often the forces on your aircraft are not relevant to your position relative to the ground. But that “seat of the pants” feel is often a good indicator to tell you when something is wrong… though it may not tell you when you’re doing something right.
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Matthew P. Barnson