RE: Boeing Tech Pubs going offshore? (long)

["Mark Baker" <mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com>]

> And how much of the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of
> Boeing Techwriters
> and Managers? It was up to them to be able to demonstrate their
> worth to the
> company.

I am currently reading Edward Tenner's excellent book, "Why Things Bite
Back", in which he discusses revenge effects: the tendency of actions
designed to treat a specific condition actually making things worse in
general or even in the specific case.

Here it seems we have a classic revenge effect:

Hoping to raise the profile and professional status of technical writers,
the STC proclaims that techwriting is a professions and therefore all
techwriters can, in principle, do all techwriting jobs.

Oh, says management, you are telling us that all tech writers are alike. But
these techwriters over here are cheaper than the ones we have now, so lets
move our documentation over there.

The STC then devotes half its conference slots to seminars on how to gain
respect in your organization.

If tech writing groups have to spend so much time justifying their value to
management, it suggests that something has gone terribly wrong in the way
that the value of technical writing as a whole is presented to the world. I
would suggest that the reason that the STC has to put on so many "How to get
respect" seminars is in large part a revenge effect from the way that the
STC, and the tech writing community in general, has portrayed itself to the
world.

---
Mark Baker
Stilo Corporation
1900 City Park Drive, Suite 504 , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1J 1A3
Phone: 613-745-4242, Fax: 613-745-5560
Email mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com
Web: http://www.stilo.com

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