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RE: An observation about the writer-engineer relationship
Subject:RE: An observation about the writer-engineer relationship From:Kim Roper <kim -dot- roper -at- vitana -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 15 Oct 2001 12:57:26 -0400
Kevin McLauchlan wrote:
> More than once, I've been found sitting on the floor in the
> photocopy room, surrounded by panels, trays, rollers... happily
> brushing the crud off a pinch-roller or using some solvent
> that probably shouldn't be used there... but it was always
> impatience that drove me.
Oooh, talk dirty to me. I'm almost as bad, but it isn't impatience as much
as persistence. I need to finish something, I'm confronted by a roadblock,
everyone else is standing around dumbfounded, so I doggedly go at it.
People have given up asking what *else* I carry in my purse.
>
> The same people who will pointedly ask me if that's the "best
> use of [my] time" are the very people who bitch if I miss a
> deadline because the lineup was too long at the remaining
> copier/printer.
I've heard that one, too. The trick is to wiggle your way into a group of
people that appreciate your resourcefulness and willingness to solve
problems. Look for people that carry Swiss Army knives.
>
> Who needs whips? If you can just distill and bottle simple
> impatience, think what a motivation tool you'd have. :-)
The same can be said of a cat's desire to be on the other side of a closed
door :>
TW tie in: This kind of persistence can increase one's value to a company
in these leaner times. Being gung-ho about technology isn't a bad thing to
demonstrate to your SMEs either, as long as you don't get Tick-like about
it.
Cheers ... Kim mailto:kim -dot- roper -at- vitana -dot- com
How many technical writers does it take to change a light bulb, anyway?
Just one, but that won't stop ten others from comparing the merits of
different light-bulb technologies, eight more to argue--loudly--about the
proper tools necessary to do the job (or whether they're needed at all), six
to discuss the problems of documenting US versus International thread
standards, five to ask to ask how to change light bulbs in Word, four to ask
how to implement light bulbs in FrameMaker, three to offer sources for the
cheapest light bulbs, two to ask about the best ways to cite light-bulb
changing on a CV, and one moderator to tell me that I'm really stretching if
I think I can tie in a light bulb joke with technical writing.
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