RE: Take this engineer and shove it [Long]

[Jim Shaeffer <jims -at- spsi -dot- com>]

<snip...> So while the developers respect my work, management types simply
don't value tech Comm as much as development. </snip>

Geoffrey A. Moore's new book _Living on the Fault Line_ explains why this
management attitude is rational. No matter how good our documentation is, it
does not provide our companies with a way to 'differentiate their offering'.
Our work falls in the hygiene category, not the core value proposition. 
Think of hygiene this way. Most of us bathe regularly and brush our teeth,
but we do not list these accomplishments on our resumes. We assume all other
competitors for a job also bathe regularly and brush their teeth. These
things do nothing to differentiate us when being evaluated by potential
employers. 
Similarly, most documentation does nothing to differentiate the product when
it is being evaluated by customers. If there is no documentation, that
'stinks'. If the documentation is there, as expected, it is time to focus on
real differentiating factors like speed of execution and ease of use. 
I know, I have argued that documentation is part of the product and can help
with total cost of ownership, etc. This line of argument is inadequate with
most real world customers. Our work, while necessary, doesn't translate
directly to the core value proposition being sold by our companies the way
that good coding translates. 
Caution: I read Moore's book in a hurry and have paraphrased mercilessly.  

Jim Shaeffer
jims -at- spsi -dot- com