Re: Tool knowledge versus Task knowledge

[Jerry Kenney <gmkenney -at- MINDSPRING -dot- COM>]

Michael Andrew Uhl wrote:

> In my job, knowing how to use the tools is what earns me my salary.

Ah but Michael, jobs are transient, at the will and whim of the employer ... it
could go away tomorrow and then where are you?

> Yes, they want me for my writing skills, that's a given.

The balance of your post calls this presumption into question; there are no givens,
especially when it comes to things as arbitrary as writing and writing skills.

> What they're willing to pay me a decent salary for--is the ability to solve minor
>
> communication problems very quickly.

Perhaps.  And then again perhaps until they wake up that these are, indeed, minor
communications problems.

> ... just do a Save As to HTML ... he didn't want to know that, he just wanted
> results. I knew that and gave him what he wanted.

There is something unethical about this, something larcenous.  Perhaps "Save As"
was more than this person wanted to know at this time.  Perhaps this person didn't
know what he wanted to know.  But what happens someday if he wakes up to the
facilities embedded in his tools?

It comes down to this: there are two kinds of writers -- writers and mechanics.
Writers think, teach, and do original work.  By original work, I mean they take the
technology, pass it through their brains, and deliver the information as their
words presented in language and formats most useful for their readers/users.

Mechanics take the technology and move it directly into the prescribed format like
simultaneous English-to-English translators. They use the tools and produce
attractive, finished work "that EPA finds acceptable." But hoarding knowledge,
sustaining an artificial position of specialist, contributes nothing to the team
and precious little to the practitioner.

A writer must be a teacher.  A writer must share skills and knowledge, else why do
we write?  Holding back does not promote job security, which is always illusory,
but it does cause confusion and ultimately ugliness in the workplace.

Thanks, Michael, for putting this question out there.  From experience, I think
your initial position was dead wrong. I used to think like that to some extent
myself, until I found users wising up to those features and techniques that worked
for them.  Helping them get there faster by telling them "Save As HTML" builds
better team play, and if they still chose to have you do it for them, continue to
do it graciously as is your practice.

Meanwhile, I have gotten a great deal out of the responses to this thread, so
thanks all.

Jerry Kenney
gmkenney -at- mindspring -dot- com