Re: Technical Writing and the Business Perspective

["Chuck Martin" <cm -at- writeforyou -dot- com>]

"T. Word Smith" <techwordsmith -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote in message
news:217571 -at- techwr-l -dot-  -dot-  -dot- 
>
> If your company values your boss' approach, then why
> cannot you measure quality in terms of satisfying your
> boss?

How satisfied will a boss be when products begin to be returned because of
inferior quality, cutting into the bottom line?

<snip>
>
>
> > Isn't pushing for a better product much better than
> > sucking up?
>
> It very much depends on the culture in which you work.
> Know your audience. (And, consider your children,
> spouse, and their roof.)
>
What culture favors shoddy products?

Yeah, well, rhetorical question, right? Let's see, historically, the
American auto industry (but seemingly less so in recent times),
public-project construction (just think, that wall was erected by the lowest
bidder), Microsoft (What product have you patched today? And what did that
patch break?), just to name a few.

OK, tongue removed from being partially in cheek.

I've walked away from jobs where managers were more interested in stroking
their own egos or maintaining their fiefdoms than in running happy and
productive teams and producing quality products. Unfortunately, the current
economy doesn't provide the choice to do that right now.

Meanwhile, I had to sell the roof that was over my head (at a  loss) because
the business model of my last company didn't work (and it didn't have
anyting to do with failing to focus on user goals, rather, the design of and
philosophy behind its sales and marketing). No "spouse" yet, but despite the
leaner times, I've been trying to get him to move in for months.

Chuck Martin



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