Re: Work harder not smarter

[Gwyneth Runnings <gwyneth -at- look -dot- ca>]

if you are not ready for a rant do not read on:

<rant>
Planning is not "wasted" time. "Wasted" time is rewriting, 
re-editing, reformulating and maintaining massive documentation that 
barely anyone can use and pretending that you are doing your job 
because you produced a lot of pages. We are technical communicators, 
not writers. If you see your job as just getting a document 
completed, then maybe working harder will help you, but it isn't 
going to help your user. Our function is to provide usable 
information not just information. This cannot be done by "working 
harder" it can only be done by "working smarter." Working smarter is 
using facts to provide a framework for repeatable successes. If you 
don't make needs assessments or document user profiles for future 
reference, work that you do today will have to be repeated by someone 
else down the line. Maybe even you and sooner than you think. And 
that person won't be thanking you for the hard work that they get to 
repeat because you thought that planning was a waste of time.
</rant>

sorry, I'm out sick today and I had to get that off my chest!

g  ..

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