Re. $/word revisited

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 Forwarded to the list by permission of the author:

 ****************************************************
 Geoff:
 Please pass the following on to your anonymous friend:

 >WHAT do we DO to quantify our production????? My boss will
 >not rest until we have a statistic to measure.
     I think this is a problem that your manager will have
 to solve by himself. You can remind him that tech writers
 and managers have struggled with this problem for many
 years, with no solution.

 The responses from the techwr-l list indicate that tech
 writers (most of us are not managers) don't have any ideas.
 Clearly, we in the rank and file don't have the brainpower
 to come up with a solution. I guess that's why we're worker
 bees and not managers. So, drop it back in his lap, that's
 why he makes the big bucks. It's a management problem, as a
 manager he should be the one working on it.

 As your manager seems to believe that it's a solvable
 problem, I suggest the following:
 1) Allow him the opportunity to come up with a method.
 2) Having solved the problem, he should then have the
 opportunity to refine it into a "technique" that he can
 copyright (much like Information Mapping Inc. has locked up
 their page layout techniques).
 3) Go into business selling the idea to tech pubs
 organizations, on a consulting basis.
 4) After getting rich on #3, retire to a life of leisure.

 If he can do #1, he's sure to get to #4. It's that easy.
 An alternative, of course, if he insists that -you- do it
 is that you get rich, but instead of retiring to a life of
 leisure you buy the company you work for. Then fire your
 ex-boss.

 Good luck.

 Rick Lippincott
 Boston Technology
 Wakefield, MA
 rjl -at- bostech -dot- com

 *****************************************************
 Forwarded by...

 --Geoff Hart    @8^{)}
 geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

 Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one of our
 reports, it don't represent FERIC's opinion.