Some random inspirations

• Speed. Sysadmins are often in a hurry, which can lead to a constant tension between doing things in ways that minimise future hassle versus getting a quick hack done now.

• Sometimes there's antagonism between systems and development departments (where software is being developed in-house) - particularly with regards to the handling of faults in the software.

• "The best systems administrators are unnoticed and unremarkable. When a system is working smoothly, it works and no one has reason to think about who is maintaining the system." So the best sysadmins are Taoists?