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Subject:Re: anyone else in the same boat? From:Christine -dot- Anameier -at- seagate -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 27 Dec 2000 14:35:28 -0600
Andrew Plato wrote:
> . . .y ou're not a vice president or Ghandi. You have to
> respect the desires of the people who pay your bills. That's the way it
works.
That would be the practical thing to do, certainly...
> Lastly, remember the "user" is not some tender child that must be
protected
> from abuse. Most "users" could care less about the documentation. Going
> overboard to protect the people who ignore your work is a little absurd.
Listen to your tone.
Users who ignore documentation, in my opinion, ignore it for a good reason:
they've seen a lot of documentation that's unhelpful and indifferent to
their needs. I've seen lots of documentation that richly deserves ignoring.
The tone of your comment--and your characterization of users as "the people
who ignore your work"--show the kind of hostility toward users that is
hardly conducive to communication. If I felt that way about the users, I'd
find myself a different field.
> If you must side with somebody, side with the geeks. These people hold
the real
> power in a company because they possess the knowledge that makes money. .
.
> If you ally with them, it is likely you too will become indispensible.
Becoming indispensible is very low on my list of priorities. If my primary
concern were angling for organizational power, I would find myself another
field and get out of contracting.
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