Re: Map documentation (was CNET Editor Death Caused byaTechnicalCommunication Mistake?)
Many of us after all that
inactivity would have opted to DO SOMETHING. It's just human.
True enough.
It applies on a lesser scale too; I wonder how many tech support people
out there have spent hours trying to solve problems caused by people
who, faced with instructions to not press X, have pressed X anyway?
At times I wonder why I bust a gut producing documentation nobody's ever
going to read, or believe if they do...
Someone say something positive, quick!
"something positive, quick!"
Har. :-) Better?
I heard somewhere that our minds cannot model a negative. There is no equivalent to "No" in mentalese--it always requires one to model the presence of the thing that is supposed to be negated. This may be where those oppositional/defiant tech support people are getting into trouble...
In this light, the correct way to instruct someone NOT to do something is to show the undesirable consequences of doing it. This requirement will surely rustle up resentment in disciplinarian parents, teachers, and instructors who expect to be met with 'cheerful, immediate obedience.' Anyway, who has time to work out an elaborate demonstration for every important rule? But if it isn't working when instructed as "Don't", you might try instructing and reinforcing the prefered positive behavior instead.
Ned Bedinger
doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com
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Follow-Ups:
- Re: Map documentation - tell them what they need to know and why, Lori Olcott
- Re: Map documentation (was CNET Editor Death Caused byaTechnicalCommunication Mistake?), Ned Bedinger
References:
RE: Map documentation (was CNET Editor Death Caused byaTechnicalCommunication Mistake?): From: Sarah Bouchier
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