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Subject:Re: nice way to word a nasty warning From:"Merrick, Tim" <tim -dot- merrick -at- LSIL -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 16 Jun 1999 11:59:10 -0500
John Blessing wrote:
"Although I think that Tim is correct about adding authority, I also
think
that sounding too authoriarian forces the reader either a) to skip
over
your warning because it has the ring of beaurocracy and no
beaurocracy can
enforce its own rules or b) to find your warning laughable because
it
sounds like 007 will bring you down if you have an unauthorized
screensaver. People will be all too willing to defy something that
is
overdone."
John,
a) It is a bureaucracy (Ontario Ministry of Health). Granted, they
don't have to sound like one.
b) Employees will certainly ignore a warning that is not a formal
policy. Thus, the "authoritarian" tone of my suggestion, which I freely
admit comes on a bit strong.
It comes down to how serious the problem is and how seriously the
Ministry wants to deal with it.
Tim Merrick
Technical Publications
LSI Logic Storage Systems
