TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> > But good tech writers don't have egos.
>
> ...in an ideal technical writer world, maybe. One
> consistent refrain I've
> encountered with managers and in interviews for many
> years is the topic of
> tech writers egos. I've worked on several teams with
> some super-sized TW egos.
Let me interject a thought here.
Egos are a good thing. Ego drives excellence. However,
the approach to excellence derived from ego can be
potentially hazardous. It's a perspective thing. I
think if everyone (not just writers) kept a partition
between ego and action, we'd all perform at our best.
For example, one person's ego might make that person a
perfectuionist in the way they write. The might be
very detailed and very bent on grammar and style. This
is a good thing. But, it can turn sour if a document
review comes back with corrections and the person
takes the changes as an attack on their ego rather
than an opportunity to try to understand what might
have been the cause for the changes, and possibly make
the document better for its intended purpose.
Ego can easily be clouded by emotion. The two are very
tightly linked. Therefore, it is very important to
rely on logic and reasoning to manage the two (ego and
emotion).
In the case above, the suggested changes may in fact
be wrong, but there is a learning opportunity there
nonetheless. In this case, you can learn WHY the
changes were suggested, learn about your reviewers,
and then open a dialogue to further understand their
point of view while expressing yours, and then work
out a resolution that both can agree to (provided the
others' egos aren't clouded by emotion).
There is certainly more to what we do than the end
deliverable. How we work and interact with others is
just as important as the deliverables we produce. Ego
can help to produce a top-quality deliverable, and
logic and reason should be used to govern emotion's
impact on ego.
=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)
"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Find out what made the Top Yahoo! Searches of 2003 http://search.yahoo.com/top2003
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
