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Re: YOU are responsible, even when YOU are not to blame (long)
Subject:Re: YOU are responsible, even when YOU are not to blame (long) From:Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 12 Apr 2003 23:17:25 -0700 (PDT)
<SteveFJong -at- aol -dot- com> wrote ...
>
> >> Consistency does not equal quality.
>
> That's 100% wrong. (Are you unaware of that or are you simply debating?)
> Here's half a dozen URLs pointing to definitions of quality in various
> fields, mostly high tech, in which consistency is primary or prominent:
Consistency is a FACET of quality work, but consistency alone does not lead to
quality product.
Consistent crap is still crap.
Root cause analysis, Steve is mostly a buzz word. Another in the endless
diversions that consume corporations and organizations desperately reaching for
improvement. I applaud the concept, but its mostly a diversion. The irony of
this is that root cause analysis rarely leads to the true root cause of
problems - morons. Morons in positions of authority are almost always the
reason there are problems.
There is one area where manufacturing work and tech writing have some
commonality. Most organizations are dysfunctional because the people in those
organizations are irresponsible, lazy, or ignorant. And they build processes to
cover up their laziness, ignorance, or irresponsibility. You cannot squeeze
innovation out of morons. No matter how hard you organize them, morons
consistently take the path of least resistance doinng the absolute bare minimum
to keep their job.
Where writing work and manufacturing work are at greatest odds is the nature of
the inputs and outputs. Manufacturing work has concrete, easily defined I/O.
Writing has vague and sometimes contradictory I/O.
Workers on a line are not expected to use much critical thinking skills.
They're taught to do specific jobs that have extremely tangible beginning and
ending points.
Writers, on the other hand, must interpret, analyze, and reorganize abstract
concepts and information. This is fundamentally a mental task - something that
morons are not well suited to accomplish with any degree of consistency.
Therefore, your entire argument is based on faulty assumptions. You cannot en
masse apply manufacturing-centric concepts to environments where the job-tasks
are fundamentally different.
Andrew Plato
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