Re: working with other writers

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

Kathy10th -at- aol -dot- com wrote:
> 
> Bruce Byfield writes:
> 
> << If some team members have considerably less
>  experience than others, then their input simply isn't worth as
>  much.  >>
> 
> I'm afraid I have to disagree with you on this. Junior members of a team may
> have some completely nutty ideas due to their inexperience, but that does not
> mean that they don't have anything worthwhile to contribute! The quickest way
> to make sure that certain members of a team (the junior ones, in particular)
> are afraid to contribute, is to make them feel that their ideas and opinions
> are worthless. If you make members of a team afraid to contribute, that
> negates the whole purpose behind having a team. The quickest way
> to make sure that certain members of a team (the junior ones, in particular)
> are afraid to contribute, is to make them feel that their ideas and opinions
> are worthless. If you make members of a team afraid to contribute, that
> negates the whole purpose behind having a team.

Please look again at the quote from me. I didn't say that junior
team members had nothing to contribute. I said that they had LESS
to contribute. That doesn't mean that they can't have good ideas
or that anyone has an excuse for treating them badly. 

However, you can waste a lot of time if you assume that being on
a team means that everyone is equal on a team, and that the nutty
ideas must be taken as seriously as those from more experienced
people. Maybe it's just me, but I've seen a lot of time wasted on
this false assumption. Although you can never rule out
exceptions, and you have to separate expertise from ego, most of
the time my ideas on design and organization are going to be
better than a newbies'. Equally, my ideas on design will be worth
less than a professional typographers'. My point is that skill
level isn't egalitarian, and a succesful team can't be run on the
assumption that it is. 

It's because this assumption is extremely common that I prefer to
work on a team where the skill levels are more or less equal. The
team members don't have to have the same areas of expertise, but
if they can appreciate each other's skills, then this assumption
simply doesn't come up and you don't have to deal with it. A team
whose members can respect each other's skills is far more likely
to be an effective team.

 
> Just my opinion (this was not intended as a flame).

Of course - and I don't take it as a flame. Anyway, a discussion
that's unanimous is pretty boring.

-- 
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com | Tel: 604.421.7189

"My enemies were certain I was starving,
It must have given them a fearful shock,
Through the binoculars to see me carving,
A joint of beef upon the barren rock."
-Roy Daniells, "Psalm 23"