RE: Best laid plans of mice

["Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>]

I enjoyed Craig's message.

The point was that, when you've been laid off, there's probably little
use in killing yourself to ensure that every "t" is crossed and every
"i" is dotted--as it is just as likely as not that most or all of what
you do will be ignored, forgotten, or lost.

Now Gordon, was that so hard to infer? I don't think so.

My $.02: if what you are doing is critical to the company, you wouldn't
be laid off before whatever it is you are working on is finished. That
you have been laid off indicates that a decision maker in management
considers your projects unnecessary and expendable. This means that a
protracted attempt to finish everything on your plate is probably for
naught.

In short, you should do only what you need to to ensure that you leave
on good terms. It seems to me that any attempt to do more than that is
just the result of the denial or bargaining phase of the grieving
process that one experiences after any considerable loss. And when it
comes to losing a job, the sooner you can get to closure the better.

Tech writing is _ultimately_ a business, not an art form, not a badge of
personal honor, not life's raison d'etre, and the decisions you make
need to be informed accordingly. There is no virtue in creating a
product that no one needs or wants.

Leonard


-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
om] On Behalf Of Gordon McLean
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 7:48 AM
To: 'Cardimon, Craig'; 'Technical Writing'
Subject: RE: Best laid plans of mice

Fascinating.

Is there a point or was this just a random pondering?

*DELETE* 

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+gordon -dot- mclean=ciboodle -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+gordon -dot- mclean=ciboodle -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On
Behalf Of Cardimon, Craig
Sent: 02 December 2008 14:39
To: Technical Writing
Subject: Best laid plans of mice

Once when I l left a place for which I was maintained their databases, I
wrote procedures for all the things I did. I was working as a programmer
at
the time. 

 

I put my notes into a nice binder, showed it to everyone in operations,
went
through it with someone, and left it in plain sight. 

 

Sometime later I discovered the binder got kicked under some furniture
and
forgotten. My notes were never used. How about that? 

 

I actually went back to work at that same company years later at another
location and found my old binder in a box of old papers. I retrieved it
and
kept it. I still have it.

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