FWD: work vs. environment

[anonfwd -at- raycomm -dot- com]

I'm suddenly faced with a dilemma I don't feel confident to make a call
on.  I would appreciate any insights or advice that anyone is willing to
offer.  Here's my dilemma.  I was recently told the 'powers that be'
decided that the R&D Division is passing the Doc. Dept.
to another division of the company.  I was privately offered by the VP
(R&D) the choice of whether to move with the Dept. or to stay within the
R&D Division in some other capacity.  The reason I'm posting this scenario
is that, while I appreciate being given a choice, the full circumstances
of this situation is analogous to splitting a dollar bill in two and
asking 'which half do you prefer?'.  So I ask, what is more important, the
act of tech writing or the person you report to?  Please read on.

In a nutshell, I am currently the only qualified writer (acknowledged by
all) of a barely functioning Doc. Dept of two people, which is widely
considered to produce useless documentation that is chronically
out-of-date in relation to the software by a year or more.  The Dept.
deserves this reputation.  The Dept. has great opportunity potential since
it needs to be built literally from scratch.  However, the Dept.'s
background is that it has never been intergrated with the software
development (although it technically is part of R&D), and has had three
internal managers (from other Depts.) overseeing it within the last year
and a half. The company also has no standards or processes to pass
information b/w Depts; it's very personality driven.  Though the company
is currently going through a huge growth phase.

Personally, I love being a Tech Writer, am passionate about writing, and
would relish the opportunity to be manage the Doc. Dept. once it moves.
My skepticism is that the politics of the situation-and the people
involved-make me seriously question whether it's not better for me to
forgoe this apparent opportunity.  Remember the recent thread re: 'working
for a liar'?  This was my previous manager of the Doc. Dept. (R&D).  After
6 months working for her, I was pressed to the wall and so spoke up
against her.  The VP (R&D) passed the Doc. Dept. to another Dept. manager.
The liar manager simply moved to the other division of the company!  In
only 3 weeks the new Doc. Dept. manager accomplished more than the other
two managers combined (a terrific manager to work for).  But still they
are moving the Doc. Dept. to another division of the company.  The essence
of the problem for me personally is that I have no interest in doing QA
work for the terrific manager.  And to move with the Doc. Dept. under the
new division means once again working with the liar manager.

Thanks for the help! 

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