What I am suggesting is not so much "agreeing" to the other
person's terms as beating him over the head with them.
Unfortunately, the reality of life, especially in this romper room
we call Silicon Valley, is that as tech writers and publications
managers we do not get to define the job requirements of other
developers and most especially other managers, but are often
still held accountable if we are unable to secure their participation
some way or another. Hence the common advice you see about
doing things like bribing engineers with candy and cookies.
This is the stick to that carrot. Taking the recalcitrant person
at his word and doing what he suggested, to whatever over-the-
top extremes are necessary to achieve the results he claims it
will yield, is sometimes the only thing one can do to make a dent
in an otherwise rock-hard skull.
However, I have also worked in environments where publicly
calling the schmuck in question a schmuck as John suggested
and talking to him as if he really was the child whose behavior he
is emulating can also work. You just have to know where you are
and what kind of response your company's culture calls for and
accepts.
Of course you cannot ensure people won't behave outrageously. That's not
the
point really.
I think agreeing to the person's terms is not a good idea. The writer is
kept from productive work and babysitting someone who should be able to
perform his job without supervision.
Perhaps if his job performance requirements included, in writing, the
accuracy of the documentation, he would pay some attention. It is *his*
job
that needs to performed right, and if I am the technical writer's manager,
I
do *not* want her babysitting a grown man who needs to be financially
motivated to perform his job.
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