RE: Do you voluntarily develop long-term projects on the job?

[Kate Robinson <KRobinson -at- seattle -dot- telecomsys -dot- com>]

> However, I'd like to know how you approach working on side 
> projects that require long term development before introducing 
> them to your boss...
> Does anyone do this type of thing? If so, do you tell anyone or do you
> surprise them with this?

I've always done this kind of thing. If I see a script or process or
template that could make life easier, I go for it. It makes my job
interesting to me, long term. 

Usually, everyone loves it. However, I've learned the hard way to nose
around and make sure that it's not on somebody else's performance plan, in
which case (a) my project will get flushed after all that work, or (b) there
will be two competing projects and all the annoying politics that result
from that. 

Metaprojects I love; Machiavellian politics over non-life-threatening issues
I'm intensely allergic to. ("It's only documentation. It's not about
somebody's LIFE," I say. "But what about medical applications," they say.
"Face it. We're tech writers, not surgeons," I respond. They look at me,
their eyes bugging out. I think you'll agree this is the kind of
confrontation nobody wants to encourage.)

The job I'm in now is my first where I am specifically tasked with taking
care of just this kind of thing. I am overjoyed to have a job where I am
expected to do what I usually sneak around doing anyway. 


Kate Robinson
TechComm Editor
TCS/TeleCommunication Systems Inc.