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Anal-retentive control freaks really spice up life, don't they? I feel for
you. I had to deal with one at one of my previous jobs. She also decided
she didn't like me, and went out of her way to sabotage my every effort.
Pray you never have to deal with someone like that! She used to dig through
the trash to see what I was throwing away... one time, she dug some of it
out and gave it to the CFO, claiming that I was discarding confidential
company information. Turns out, the CFO was embarrassed to even bring it
up.
Anyways... in my experience, the best way to work with people like that is
to come over to their side and be part of their education process. Assume
that she doesn't want to cost the company money and effort (which she surely
will if you have to rework your docs to accomodate her phony requirements),
and then demonstrate to her that - WHAT A RELIEF - you did a little
homework, and you DON'T REALLY HAVE TO DO IT AFTER ALL, dontcha know!
Decide what areas of impact ISO does have on documentation (maybe a
long-term goal of standards compliance (SGML, XML, etc.)), and share the
info with her. Convince her that you, too, have her concerns at heart.
Scour the web. I'll bet you you're not the first person to suffer at the
hands of an over-zealous ISO commissar.
If this fails to work, go as high as you have to in order to convince the
adults in the company that this is a FUBAR project.
If there are no such people, then smile and eat it up, or just refuse to do
it and see if somebody has the power to compel you. What more can I say?
Peace!
Kevin
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