RE: Writing Corrective Actions for customers?

["Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>]

Ned Bedinger wrote:
 
> The poster said he is an individual who feels that the 
> workplace can be opaque and boobytrapped with pitfalls 
> (minefield was the expression). 
> He's not delusional, the workplace CAN be a real snakepit. 
> When he wonders why such Public Relations (not CRM, I would 
> guess he meant) work suddenly gets routed to him, I see 
> critical thinking. I think he's wise to follow his instincts 
> in hoping to avoid the vicissitudes of being exposed to every 
> drib or drab of the stuff that runs downhill. With no one 
> else watching his six o'clock position, he's entirely right to fret.

I've been working for 43 years, and as a tech writer for the last 20.
I've certainly met a few jerks and encountered some unpleasant
situations. But in all that time, I've never felt like I was in a
"corporate minefield," or being "set up to take a fall." I've observed
that stuff runs both uphill and downhill, and in both cases some of it
is good stuff and some of it is ... not so good. And the vast majority
of people I've encountered in the workplace just want to be treated with
decency and respect, and are willing to treat you the same in return. 

Maybe I've just been extremely lucky. 

Or maybe it's like that old story about the two travelers. 

The first traveler stopped to talk with a man tending his garden. "I'm
being transferred to this town. Can you tell me what it's like? How are
the people around here?" The gardener responded, "Where are you from,
and what were the people like there?" "Oh, I'm from Smallville, and it's
not a very friendly place. People there tend to be standoffish and
unpleasant, and no one ever gives you a hand or a kind word." The
gardener said, "I'm afraid you'll find that people here are just the
same." 

A little later, the second traveler asked the same gardener the same
question, and the gardener asked him about the place he's from. "I'm
from Centerville," the traveler replied, "and I'm really going to miss
it. Everyone there is so friendly and helpful. Everywhere you go, you're
greeted with a smile and a kind word." The gardener replied, "Don't
worry, you'll find that people here are just the same."

OK, I'm done with my self-congratulatory and egregious offensiveness for
today. ;-)

Richard


------
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------




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