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> Actually, I agree with you. The problem is, they don't
> realize or they ignore the fact they need us more than
> ever. I once had a superior, the VP of engineering in
> fact, tell me that most companies wouldn't have
> technical writers at all except for the fact that
> users expect documentation. He said most companies
> regard TWs as a necessary evil, and I think my
> experience has proven him right.
Documentation is like a mountain climber's safety line.
As long as you're going up the mountain, or coming
down at your own speed, it's annoying to have to carry
it around, hook it up, maintain it, etc. It's only when you
find yourself going down the mountain in an uncontrolled
manner when you appreciate it.
> Remember, an article in "Wired" magazine a while back
> concluded with the sentence, "Nobody ever got promoted
> for having good documentation." (My fault if the quote
> is not exact.) The article was specifically about
> managing databases, but it could have been about
> almost any high-tech field. I think that sentence is a
> pretty accurate summation of the feelings of most
> managers today.
I *have* been promoted for managing the production of
good documentation (most commonly when I've come
along and done it after someone else's efforts to do it
crashed and burned, a lot of my work history is based
on my following in the footsteps of people who not only
didn't get promoted but whose employment went the other
was because they *didn't* have good documentation).
And the managers who feel the way you describe about
documentation? I won't work for them.
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