Re: Smarter person than me - shifted slightly
To expand on this point:
Sharon Burton-Hardin noted:
Contractors have an obligation to point out the possible or likely problems
if decision A is made but if the client says, Nope, we like this decision
and that is what we want, then that is what they need to get.
One of the most valuable traits a contractor can have is to know the difference between what is suitable and what they prefer. For example, I vastly prefer to use FrameMaker for technical documentation. It fits my brain (which may be a sadder comment on mental processes than my worst enemies could make; never mind), and I can work about 20-25% faster than in MS Word. However, that doesn't mean that MS Word is unsuitable in any objective sense.
In my experience, this separation of professional opinion and personal opinion is relatively rare in any field. When I was an academic, I got strange looks from both instructors and students for comments such as, "Well, I enjoyed the book, but it wasn't very well written." More than one person asked me, how, if I enjoyed a book, I could possibly say it wasn't well written. It had literally never occurred to many people that their personal likes or dislikes were separate from any criteria for judging quality.
Anyway, the point is that, although contractors, like anybody else, like to believe that they are sane and rational, and only make logical decisions, only a few of us actually do so - and none of us do so all the time. But wise contractors will do their best to separate the two.
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield
"There's a fading beauty talking in riddles,
Rome burns down and everybody fiddles,
Poor deportee,
But a thousand dollars won't buy an American wife, alas,
There's a thousand years' history in that whiskey glass."
- Elvis Costello, "The Deportee Club"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Order RoboHelp Office X3 by March 14 and receive a $100 mail-in rebate,
plus FREE WebHelp Merge Module and FREE iMarkup Software, for a
total giveaway value of $439! Order today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Help celebrate TECHWR-L's 10th Anniversary starting this month!
Check out the contests at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/special/contests/
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday TECHWR-L....
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
References:
RE: Smarter person than me - shifted slightly: From: Kim Roper
Previous by Author:
Re: Even more on gender neutrality
Next by Author:
Re: Greetings from a Newb...
Previous by Thread:
RE: Smarter person than me - shifted slightly
Next by Thread:
Re: Smarter person than me - shifted slightly
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads