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Re: Give Me a Clear Thinker (was STC certification: what's in it for tech writers?)
Subject:Re: Give Me a Clear Thinker (was STC certification: what's in it for tech writers?) From:Chris Despopoulos <despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:Steven Jong <stevefjong -at- comcast -dot- net>, TECHWR-L Digest <TECHWR-L -at- LISTS -dot- TECHWR-L -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 29 Oct 2011 11:16:48 -0700 (PDT)
I really have to take issue with the notion that a tradesman will do something stupid if the customer asks for it. A welder, for example, will not build a structure that is unsafe just for the money. Ultimately, that welder will be held responsible if somebody gets hurt. On the other side of that coin, I can't tell you how many times I've been told to ship sub-standard work. If the client draws the line and wants to ship as-is, how is that different from your description of a (mere) tradesman?
The bottom line for any trade
is that quality is the fundamental ethic. It's bigoted to assume that
writing has more investment in quality than any other trade. (Yes, I
still insist that technical writing is a trade.) It's also bigoted to assume that a "profession" has more investment in ethics or quality than a "trade". The financial "professions" spring to mind in this context. The history of trades is a history of ethics and standards.
cud
________________________________
From: Steven Jong <stevefjong -at- comcast -dot- net>
To: despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com; TECHWR-L Digest <TECHWR-L -at- LISTS -dot- TECHWR-L -dot- COM>
Cc: Steven Jong <stevefjong -at- comcast -dot- net>
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2011 12:18 PM
Subject: Give Me a Clear Thinker (was STC certification: what's in it for tech writers?)
Chris Despopoulos posted a long and interesting essay on technical writing as a trade. My understanding is that we're more than a trade because we have a code of ethics. A tradesman will do something stupid if the client demands it ("it's your money"); a professional won't.
Anyway, at the end Chris says:
I think this finally hits on what bothers me about the certification thing... It tests application within a domain, but where is the test for native ability?
To this I have an answer: we require written commentaries. If you work with beautiful templates and processes and can whip out a company-standard document, but you can't think your way out of a paper bag, we expect to pick that up when evaluating the written commentaries.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
-- Margaret Mead
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