Single Most Important Tech Writer Skill

[Lief Erickson <lerickson -at- mqsoftware -dot- com>]

I just looked at the results for the "What is the single most important
skill set for technical writers to have?" poll. I was shocked! 65% of the
respondents said Writing/Editing skills are the most important.

The Minnesota High Tech Association recently published a report that list
the top 10 high tech occupations. View the full report at
http://www.mhta.org/pubpol/default.asp. (Granted the sample was 7 and not
874 [response for TECHWR-L poll] and the report does leave some questions
open.) What they found for technical communicators was the ability to
analyze/integrate/interpret information was the most important skill. The
report does not contend, nor do I, that writing/editing skills are
unimportant, just that it is not the most important. 

I'd be interested to know what management's view response to this question
would be.

-Lief Erickson
Lead Technical Writer
MQSoftware, Inc
lerickson -at- mqsoftware -dot- com 

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