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Subject:RE: How to fend off a tech writer From:jgarison -at- ide -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 9 May 2002 13:53:58 -0400
Ah yes ....
I recall with some ironic fondness the time I got (after some amount of
begging and pleading) the chance to look at some early versions of a new
word processor release that was being developed (this was Wang in the early
80s). I noted that the way they were using wildcards was not the way the
rest of the world used wildcards. Mostly, though, I was not too critical.
Before I could get back to my desk, the development manager had called my
manager and told her to never let me darken their doors again. This same
development manager I consider criminally negligent because, after 4 years,
the group NEVER developed or shipped a product - even an upgrade - and
Wang's share of the market had gone from over a billion (yes, with a B)
dollars a year to almost nothing.
Consider the source ....
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Oboryshko [mailto:obie1121 -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 1:40 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: How to fend off a tech writer
Well, it happened again. After 3 months on the gig, I got an
email from a middle manager stating "Don't distract the
developers... send all your questions to me instead... etc
etc..."
What I'm wondering is -- Does everybody else get these
instructions too, or is it just me?
It's dawned on me that, thanks to my semi-meticulous archiving,
I now have a collection of these emails spanning multiple gigs
over the last five years or so. It's a fascinating chronicle of
all the various techniques management uses to keep tech writers
at arm's length. They will do anything to keep tech writers from
interacting as peers on the development team:
1. The Gatekeeper: "Funnel all your requests through me..."
2. The Pest: "Don't distract the developers with your silly
requests..."
3. The Obstacle: "Put all your questions in writing..."
4. Trial and Error: "Just do the best you can, then we'll review
the document..."
5. What else???
What I'm proposing is that we create a repository of these
missives from all our collective experience. Please send them to
me (sanitized to protect the guilty, of course) and I will
publish them somehow on a web site. I think it will be highly
entertaining... also it will be very useful as unscientific
research that provides some insight into management attitudes.
Note: I'm not requesting support or advice on how to handle the
situation; I can deal with it. But as custom dictates on
techwr-l, please fire away with any free advice!
Mike O.
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