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Re: Interoffice Relations/Work Productivity Dilemma

Subject: Re: Interoffice Relations/Work Productivity Dilemma
From: Sandy Harris <sandy -at- storm -dot- ca>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 2004 16:08:04 -0700


L. wrote:

This issue that caused this to arise is basically a
major management business-related decision to withhold
a specific type of information from the documentation
for important reasons. This person, however, won't
accept that -- even though he hasn't been around long
enough to even fathom what the important reasons are.

I find it hard to visualise worthwhile reasons. Are the
actual reasons in this case something you can describe
here?

My area is computer security, and the commonest reason
for not disclosing details there is an attempt at
"security by obscurity", the delusion that it will be
secure if you keep details secret. This is nonsense
and common, so I am suspicious.

Also, I consider programs like Word that come without
documentation of their file formats to be deficient.
I don't object to proprietary software per se. I'll
quite happily use Framemaker, which does come with
a properly documented format.

That said, from your description, this guy's tactics
leave a lot to be desired. He desparatety needs a
clue. If he's not careful, he may soon need a job.

As I see it, questioning things is part of a tech
writer's job. Sometimes it can be the most important
part, when you're the only one on the team worrying
about functionality rather than implementation
issues, or the first person to actually use the
product.

However sometimes, whatever the issue, it's just not
your call. Management, or the development team, or
your boss, or head office, or ... decides. Anyone
who cannot learn to live with that cannot survive
in any company I've seen. Based on your post, your
colleague seems not to have learned this yet.
I


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Follow-Ups:

References:
Interoffice Relations/Work Productivity Dilemma: From: L.

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