Firefighting situations are unique in that they contain a number of elements, which together bring fear and panic to nearly everyone involved. What you need to excel in this environment is confidence to methodically move forward step by step. Even though people are out of control around you and you're being peppered with distractions, if you have a proven method, you'll know exactly what to do. This book provides the knowledge and methods you need to be successful in a firefighting situation.

If you scan this book, you will notice a few recurring themes, such as OraPub's 3-circle analysis method, wait-event analysis, response-time analysis, and a solid understanding of Oracle internals. The beauty of these is that each supports the other during diagnosis, analysis, and communication, leading to building an extremely strong solution case and breeding cooperation.

This chapter starts you off by identifying the keys to thriving in the chaotic firefighting environment, and then introduces the main methods covered in this book. This chapter is about creating the initial framework to prepare you for the eventual firefight. Once the framework is complete, you'll be able to quickly absorb a tremendous amount of technical knowledge, which when methodically applied, yields extremely strong solutions.