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Re: Technical Writing and the Business Perspective
Subject:Re: Technical Writing and the Business Perspective From:k k <turnleftatnowhere -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 24 Oct 2003 10:07:10 -0700 (PDT)
Under normal circumstances, loyalties should come in
this order: employer, customer, professionalism.
Loyalty must be first to the person who signs the
paycheck. That is NOT just cynical self-interest; it's
also a matter of honor. When you go to work for a man,
you make an agreement to do what he wants done the way
he wants it done. In effect you've accepted a
contract, even if you never actually sign a paper. If
you disagree with his way of doing things, you have
the right and the professional obligation to try to
make him understand what it should be. But after you
make your case, if he says, "Do it my way," you have
only three honorable courses of action: 1)say, "Yes,
sir" and move out, 2)find somewhere else to work, or
3)refuse to do the work and take the risks.
Later, you have the right to try again to change the
situation, so in the future the disagreeement doesn't
arise. But each time you try to make a change, if he
doesn't accept your suggestion for change, you come
again to that 3-way decision branch.
Why does customer take precedence over
professionalism? The same reason people say, "The show
must go on." Because you're doing something for him,
not the other way around. Your product is supposed to
be for someone else's benefit, so that someone else
takes precedence in saying how it should be done. If
you really disagree with what he wants, again you have
three courses of action.
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