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Now and then I'm talking to some left-brain-dominant manager type (a tautology, I know), and they want to forward a file to me. So do they drag the file into the mail composition window? No. Do they use keyboard shortcuts? No. They find the Insert menu (usually with a touch pad, no less), and navigate around in a File Open window until they can locate the file, which is sitting right on their desktop.
Similarly, they know how to close a window, but not how to minimize it. They perceive the phrase "right-click" as being something uttered in a non-Indo-European language they never studied. The connection between copying something from the Edit menu and typing Ctrl-C has to be learned separately for every application. Learning about Alt-Tab is a fresh revelation every time I explain it.
These are not stupid people. They have not yet been promoted to their level of incompetence.
So what is it? What is the connection between the ability to learn and use shortcuts and right brain dominance? Is there one? Am I just imagining this?
And what does this say about the way we write procedural instructions and our expectation that people will follow them? What does it say about how documentation should be tested?
Discuss amongst yourselves. I have work to do today ;-)
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