Outages are career killers in data centers and IT. This leads to a risk aversion behavior that becomes a best practice.
Risk aversion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaRisk aversion is a concept in psychology, economics, and finance, based on the behavior of humans (especially consumers and investors) while exposed to uncertainty to attempt to reduce that uncertainty.
But, Risk Aversion can lead to an obsession to avoid doing things. A funny example is Ben Stiller in Along Came Polly.
Ben Stillar's risk aversion is resolved when he enters data about his safe ex-wife and the risky Polly.
Reuben is torn between the free-spirited Polly and the safe and familiar Lisa. To solve this issue he enters information about Polly and Lisa into a computer insurance program which measures risk. The computer tells him that, despite his numerous blunders with her, Polly is the best choice for him.
It is too common a best practice to manage risk by avoiding the path that may have risk. Risk leads to an outage. An outage leads to job loss. Don't do those things that increase risk.
Almost all data center innovators learn to live with risk. Risk is everywhere. But, risk aversion can still exist in pockets of an organization when one individual finds comfort in steering clear of all risks they identify. It's too bad you can't enter information in about their situation and given them the best choice.