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This also has a bearing on the recent "content vs. process" discussions. I
agree with your points, and would add that one of the impacts this has on
corporate activity such as corporate and technical communications, is to
make process more important than content, since it doesn't require or even
allow creativity, discussion or debate. Templates become more important
than the information they contain, meetings more important than work,
conformity to rules more important than results. I would be that most of us
have been confronted with the "if you need to know, someone will tell you"
mentality that prevents many from wanting to make real contributions to
their employer's vision.
Innate curiousity is an important factor, combined with a knowledge of some
process and an array of content, creative ideas and solutions will come
forward. Process alone may look slick, but it is surface-only, and only
hides the lack of substance in the short-term.
Bear in mind that I am not anti-process. However, I think obsession over
process is counter-productive, because it prevents new ideas and solutions
from ever making an appearance. And this is why I still have doubts about
the long-term effectiveness of the current "single-source" propositions.
Beyond the structure of the database, they require no initiative, no
diagnosis, no new or better ways to provide answers to people who need them.
Once size rarely fits all, and I didn't get into this business to provide
one solution.
Perhaps the real challenge for those of us charged with providing support to
users is to find the appropriate balance between spoon-feeding the
victimized and providing a satisfying learning experience.
"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me,
and I'll understand." - Native American Proverb
-----Original Message-----
From: Miller, Lisa [mailto:Lisa -dot- Miller -at- Anheuser-Busch -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2000 9:50 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: What, Me Think? (was RE: clarification needed)
Anna wrote:
"Since anyone older than me taught me,whose fault is it
really? The students or the elders? I would like to think that I am abnormal
then most...I was raised to have critical thinking skills...is it solely the
teachers responsibility to teach a child? I think not..."
I feel compelled to respond to this line of thinking by pointing out that
personal responsibility is also on decline. This attitude is very prevalent
in
our society - taught victimization/dependence. Once we feel like victims or
dependants, it is certainly easier to control us.
This ties in with technical writing very much in two ways. We are
confronted
with attitudes such as "if this doesn't work, it's your fault because the
program/documentation/training failed me." We are also confronted with the
attitude that "the user isn't happy because the user didn't want the
program/wasn't interested in the training/didn't read the documentation."
I was thinking last night that it's not so much critical thinking as it is
innate curiosity - a desire to know, understand, and communicate. I am most
happy when discussing any topic with the mutual desire to understand it.
Very
few minds are encouraged to develop this "gift." In fact, for years it
seems
that this behavior has been discouraged. "If you need to know, someone will
tell you."
The corporate world sometimes responds negatively to this because give and
take
can be intimidating to management and peers. It is too easy during give and
take sessions to become too close to the argument and therefore take the
winning
and losing argument points too personally. More
debate/communication/philosophy
classes during college or even high school might better prepare future
employees
with tougher skin and better communication tools in their toolbox. It has
taken
me many years to keep a distance between my emotions and the argument. I'm
not
sure I've got it all figured out even now.
[snip]
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