Invitation from Todd Kleinhans

Howdy! My name is Todd Kleinhans and I get to host this month’s T-SQL Tuesday topic #190: Mastering A New or Existing Technical Skill.

Technical skills come and go over time. What was super hot and all of the rage and fashion can suddenly become obsolete and no longer needed or relevant.

So when I say the word “mastering” I am talking about committing to something you are going to keep developing for the next several years. Picking such a skill is not gambling if it is something you believe in and can see yourself and others doing.

Over the Summer of 2025

I recently have re-read Peak: Secrets From The New Science of Expertise. You need to understand something about Dr. K. Anders Ericsson – he was one of the world’s most foremost experts on experts. He has studied the world’s most elite performers for over thirty years in both athletic and mental skills and has come up with a framework on how anybody can become elite in a skill. Other books that I have read, currently reading and re-reading are listed below.

Deliberate Practice

Malcolm Gladwell made the 10,000 hours to become an expert popular in his best selling book Outliers. What Dr. Ericsson points out though is that it is a certain type of practice he calls “deliberate practice” and often done with the best coaches and teachers one can afford. Also- most of the budding experts spend A LOT of time alone in solitary practice. Most people cannot afford a dedicated 24/7/365 coach for themselves (although AI avatars or human ractors as described in [The Diamond Age]https://amzn.to/3I3S8fQ) by Neal Stephenson could be right around the corner).

As the joke goes how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. There are no shortcuts or excuses for genetics or innate talent- it is all a fantastic amount of consistent hard work regularly and especially when you do not feel like doing it or when it just doesn’t feel like fun anymore.

The core principle is 3F: Focus, Feedback, Fix It. Concentration in short bursts like no more than an hour of intense focus, take a break, then back at it. Feedback from your own failures, finding out yet another wrong way to do it, and directly from coaches/teachers. Fix it- being open and honest about shortcomings and strategies to get rid of problems to either minimize it or ideally get rid of it altogether.

Putting yourself into an environment which FORCES you to push yourself out of your comfort zone, stretching but not impossible. By the way experts are also at the vanguard of intuition and new ideas. See Flow and Creativity. Bonus points if you can pronounce his name without looking it up 🙂

Back To School

Here in the United States most K-12, colleges and universities are back in session. So getting back into schedules and positive routines is important. Staying hydrated, eating healthy, exercising and getting plenty of sleep and studying takes discipline and adjustment.

What is Your Technical Skill of Choice to Master?

I have chosen Prompt Engineering. Since the last few years I have been exploring and chipping away and learning more and more about Prompt Engineering. Time to get serious and learn and master this skill as if my life depended on it. Using meta-cognition techniques and wisdom from Dr. Ericsson and others I just need to “DO IT”. The following are resources that either I or others have purchased for me. Please note there are many other resources from Microsoft, Google and others but this should be enough to keep me busy at least for this first semester 🙂

Courses & On-Premises Set-Up

(Even if you don’t type all of the examples, this is only 1.5 hours long and you can just watch it): ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers

(New, I haven’t taken this one yet and it is only 1 hour long): [Building with Llama 4]https://www.deeplearning.ai/short-courses/building-with-llama-4/)

(I like formal instruction and already have a paid subscription to Coursera): Prompt Engineering Specialization

(Getting my hands dirty, thanks Kellyn! Other AI & Prompt Engineering articles too on SQLServerCentral): Using Ollama on Windows 11 as an Alternative to Public LLMs

Books

For me, my learning style is to read a book cover to cover and only stopping to take critical notes in the margins and yes I like to read physical books. I will then go back and re-read them taking detailed notes and typing the examples and NOT just copying and pasting from source control.

Learning How To Learn: Book Course

My CTO got this for me (he also got everyone Claude too): Prompt Engineering for Generative AI

ChatGPT for Dummies 2nd Edition (I also have a subscription to ChatGPT Plus and Google Colab)

(Personal note: Chrissy and Brandon are awesome and both are from exceptional DBA backgrounds- I love this book! Chrissy created dbatools and book of same name with others; style is very similar to the * in a Month of Lunches series): [AI for Everyday]https://www.manning.com/books/ai-for-everyday-it) IT

(Exercise for myself in Prompt Engineering; using this book, figure out the specs and requirements and then use generative AI that would be used to generate the Python code in the examples): Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 3rd Edition

Conclusion

I have my first “semester” planned out for me to get me started on becoming an expert in Prompt Engineering. It won’t always be fun or easy. Will I stick with it for ~10,000 focused practice hours and continue this journey and choose to master at least one skill in my life to help myself and others? All of the resources will not do anything for you unless you dive deep into the material, daily and over time. I wish everyone the best of luck in mastering a new or existing technical skill! Keep in touch and I hope you reach your goals- a dream with a deadline! –Todd

Write your own plan or goal on Sep 9 and share it with the community! Include a link in a comment on this post to be included in the roundup.