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I'd like to discuss a comment that someone recently posted. Mind you,
I agree with the comment.
"You need to be able to learn new, often difficult things, very
quickly"
My question...how is this done. Does it mean that the writer must
simply be brilliant and extremely smart (as is my case :-) ) or does
it mean that someone must know a technique or skill on how to do
this?
Or does it mean that before you put Word-One on paper, that you must
spend days and days pondering every spect of the subject?
Putting aside those who are brilliant, what is that technique?
I'll assume that this technique not only covers the ability to learn
the subject being written about, but also when you need to learn
something quickly to write WITH.
I'll throw out the my observation.
Learning something quickly is not so much an issue of learning
EVERYTHING about the subject, but more a prioritization skill in
knowing what to learn first. Personaly, I prefer to start getting
"something" on paper immediately, even if it is basic stuff that will
be built on (or trashed and replaced). It makes me feel better that I
feel productive and if makes the boss feel better if something is
created.
Take learning a software tool, such as a word processor. In my case,
I don't learn everything about that tool, but only what I need to use
at that moment. I'd start with how to launch a blank screen. Enter a
few words, now learn how to save the new document. There...I know 50%
of what I'll need to know to start producing a deliverable.
Extend this technique to learning about what I'm writing about. We'll
assume this is for software, though the approach logic can extend to
anything.
First, learn how to start it and how to close it. Once you know that,
the rest is details, since you cannot do ANYTHING if you cannot start
it. Now, pick it apart piece by piece. I usually do this in the order
that functions appear in the menus. If this was a browser, the first
thing I'd start with it File -> New. then File-> Open. Simply work
through the menu from beginning to end.
Funny thing about this sequence...usualy, the creation of the Help
Application comes after the paper documentation and being that it is
at the end of the menue sequence, by the time I'm at the end and hit
Help, I'm ready to write the Help.
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