Re: Question on record-keeping

[Elna Tymes <etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM>]

Linda Castellani wrote:

> Regarding CYA docs - I usually keep them around for far too long, just in
> case someone ever does come back to me and wants to know who in the heck
> came up with whatever.

> My question for the list is, has this ever happened?

<slapping forehead in dismay>  Consider yourself uniquely blessed, that
none of your reviewers have come back, figuratively looking for your
head, because you allowed some piece of verbiage that they don't like to
get into a released manual.

In the early days of a now-high-flying Silicon Valley company, the VP of
technology was one of the reviewers of their first manual.  All of his
corrections were incorporated. Each time.  For four review rounds.
Despite the fact that they contradicted each other.  Ultimately the
writer got hauled in to explain why he wasn't writing 'the truth,' so he
hauled out the saved markups and tactfully showed the VP his own
handwriting on each dated version.  Unfortunately, for pointing out that
this particular emperor had no clothes, the writer was terminated.

It's not uncommon in companies where the engineering stars have more ego
than long-term memory to have situations where someone comes back to the
writer wanting to know why his/her corrections weren't included.  When
working in a highly politicized environment like that, my tactic has
been to make some marginal note next to each correction, indicating if
it was included or if not, why not.

Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems