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Paul Strasser [mailto:paul -dot- strasser -at- windsor-tech -dot- com]
> > CYA is without a doubt the most detrimental and least
> productive thing any
> > human can do at their job.
> Although CYA is commonly a useless activity because you're essentially
> concerned solely with avoiding blame (rather than concerned
> with doing good
> work), there are times when CYA is essential.
Indeed. Notwithstanding your real-estate example, CYA is important
to Tech Writers, too.
If you make a practice of summarizing your current beliefs as to
what has been decided, what is expected, what has changed... and
publishing those summaries to the people upon whom you are depending
for necessary inputs, and to the people who are depending upon
you to produce what they need, then you are practicing CYA.
Good CYA keeps blame off the table, and it keeps you employed.
When surprise expectations and assumptions pop up, late in the
day, it is invaluable to be able to retrieve an e-mail that
the other party sent out, detailing their expectations, but if
that is not available, it is just as useful to be able to
retrieve your own e-mail that you sent to all and sundry, inviting
them to correct your estimation of what was going on and what they
were expecting... and when... and how much... and what color...
Good, non-recriminating CYA keeps everybody honest, and catches
oversights and wrong-headed assumptions when it is still possible
to retrieve the situation. Failing that, it protects your employed
butt when blame starts happening, so that your butt remains
resistant to arbitrary or politically motivated sudden-unemployment
syndrome.
Regardless, better the CYA that keeps the business on an even keel
than the CYA that only ensures that you are one of the last ones
out and turning off the light. :-)
It's nice to document procedures for the benefit of those who will
come after. It's nicer to document what you actually do, and to
get important folks' agreement that what you actually do is what
you are actually supposed to be doing.
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