RE: Another question I've had for years...

["diotima" <diotima -at- myway -dot- com>]

Jim wrote:



>"How would you get information from subject matter experts that are being...difficult?

----snip





i've been asked this question during an interview once. i can't remember what my exact response was, but i was at a bit of a loss because i've never had this problem before. so i basically said so and filled out my answer with...some stuff, i can't remember what.



the thought that ran through my head during the interview was: hmm, their developers are uncooperative?



now whenever this topic comes up i find myself wondering why it is that i never have this problem. here's a few things i come up with.



i don't think of anyone as a sme. or if i ever do, it is only for a few seconds as i'm trying to locate the appropriate people. (i once worked with an instructional designer who talked about smes as if that's what their title was. like, "we really need to hire some more smes.") i think of them as developers or engineers or whatever they've been hired to do. they weren?t hired for my benefit.



i don't really have this "us vs. them" dichotomy that many other tech writers seem to have. when i worked in a tech pubs department at a major financial institution, i was surprised at how strong this dichotomy was. and it was primarily perpetuated by my fellow tech writers. "they" (the programmers) were geeks. "they" were difficult to talk to. and so on. i couldn't relate. i consider myself rather geeky. the line between myself and them feels blurry. i had no problems whatsoever with them. it was telling that the tech pubs folks would go to lunch together, in pairs or threes or whatever. but i'd be having lunch with the programmers. (they invited me!)



i don't have any tricks or tactics to get the information i need from them. i'm interested in what they're doing, and sometimes in who they are. so when i seem interested, it's genuine. i've been thrilled when developers have given me access to certain tools or products still in development when they've not given such access to any of the other technical writers.



is it my interest in the project? in them? my people skills? the fact that i understand that they are busy? that i consider how i might help them? ..... i guess it's all of that, but frankly i don?t give it much thought.



-diotima



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