Re: CHAT: Re: survey on editing

[David Jones/KSBEISD <David_Jones/KSBEISD -dot- KSBEISD -at- DATAHUB -dot- COM>]

Personally, if I found that someone was bending rules just to keep their job,
that person would lose his or her job right there! Even if he or she was
bending them in an effort to benefit me, my first thought would be, "And what
will he or she do when mad about something? Will he or she 'bend the rules' to
make the project fail, then go to a competitor and 'bend the rules' to give the
contract to the competitor?" It's hard enough making projects work, even
without having to deal with someone who lacks honesty.

In working on my MSIS degree, I'm studying the impact of ethical decisions on
the success or failure of IS projects. I've found cases where projects were
cancelled, companies put out of business, lives endangered, etc., etc., due to
ethical decisions that amount to little more than "bending the rules" a bit to
protect someone's job ...

*Every* decision we make that affects others (clients, coworkers, the public)
is an ethical decision, and needs to be made with as much thought and care as
we put into everything else we do.

Sorry, JFOA.

David Jones, Technical Writer
David_Jones/KSBEISD -dot- KSBEISD -at- Datahub -dot- com
Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate

DISCLAIMER:
"I do not speak for my employer, my computer, or any other living thing."
To: TECHWR-L @ LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L) @
Internet
cc:  (bcc: David Jones/KSBEISD)
From: ibbetson @ IDIRECT.COM (David Ibbetson) @ Internet @ DATAHUB
Date: 04/10/96 08:14:38 PM
Subject: CHAT: Re: survey on editing

 Matthew Danda writes:

> School does not teach someone how to bend the rules in
>order to keep your job. This art of knowing when to bend rules and when to
>abide by them in order to meet deadlines is the ultimate skill of a good
>tech writer.

School is supposed to teach us to refuse to compromise our integrity, even
if we go hungry as a result.

To learn how to botch a job, so that it can be finished on time and appear
to have been done properly, apply to the nearest slave.

However, "Philosophers charge high prices to teach us that material things
are worthless"

"Men must be taught as if you taught them not,
And things unknown proposed as things forgot." -- Pope
David Ibbetson, 133 Wilton St, #506, Toronto, M5A 4A4
ibbetson -at- idirect -dot- com  (416)363-6692  fax (416)363-4987
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