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Now you've done it, Edwin. Doggone it, just when
I was dreaming of early retirement in a shipping
container, dining on elder Kibble, rather than
work for another kissy-kissy-brown-nosed manager
again.
All you guys and gals who thrived in the military
and learned to think from the bureaucracy are
going to be shocked and amazed at the arrogance of
my attitude, but I'm here to say that the empty
idolatry of surviving in a bureaucracy is not
enough to make work interesting anymore.
The WORK place needs to be dynamic and creative to
keep up with the changing times. The workplace
currently is the source of most daytime beta waves
(zzzzzzz). Managers and tech writers alike
_really need_ critical thinking and
problem-solving skills as much as they need tools
and writing skills. They need these skills to
evaluate the real requirements of the job of tech
writing. If the job description hasn't changed in
40 years, that should be your first clue that it
is due for a refitment..
I feel like managers (qualification for this rant:
I mean managers in big companies) are pre-disposed
to behaving like Victorian bean counter managers,
whose main purpose is to stroll around, lording it
over their underlings with micromanagement and
hair-splitting criticisms. I remember too many
managers who could not set aside personal likes
and dislikes long enough to render an objective
review of my work in terms of quality,
productivity, dedication, and so on.
Anyone who finds themselves with such a manager is
a candidate for a critical thinking skills
workshop. Unfortunately, anyone with such a
manager will find themselves on a team with no
training budget because the manager blew it on a
group outing ("team building activity") to some
local roadside attraction like feeding the ducks
at the park. We need professional growth, but they
need to demonstrate to their superiors that we are
a simple team with simple expectations, ruled with
an iron fist.
Do I seem bitter? Feh. it's just the aftertaste
of sugar substitute.
Ned Bedinger
doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com
Edwordsmith Technical Communications Co. http://www.edwordsmith.com
tel: 360-434-7197
fax: 360-769-7059
>
> Bill Swallow and Edwin Dahlquist are haggling
over "organizational conciousness":
>
Edwin:
> Organizational vision and organizational reality
are
> two very different things.
>
Bill:
> > I can easily generalize that people who share
your viewpoint of managers are
> > narrow-minded and bitter.
Edwin:
> If anything, the opposite is true. I distrust
incompetents maintained in
> positions of authority because they have
successfully manipulated superiors
> into believing they are competent. It isn't
personal.
>
> It is always easier to pigeonhole something than
it is to think critically
> about it. Without invoking Korzybski, the basic
process is that once a person
> can attach a label to something, he or she can
stop thinking about it, and
> respond to the label as if it were the thing
labeled. In some cases it is
> useful. but not in managing virtual teams.
Probably not even in management of
> any type, because it both creates and fosters an
impoverished response set to
> complex events.
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