Here's an article I posted on the Carolina Communique earlier in the fall:
When I became president of our chapter this summer, I was searching for a job. Now I am a statistical writer at SAS, documenting risk management products and solutions. I’m reinventing myself. I’m learning a new set of tools, technologies, and products. I’m getting to know and respect a new group of colleagues. I’m having fun as I build a professional routine entirely different from the one I followed for the last nineteen years.
The theme for my chapter presidency is reinvention. Our chapter needs to reinvent itself to face the challenges of attracting new members and keeping existing members active. Our profession needs to reinvent itself as it faces accelerating technological change and globalization.
Our chapter is changing. With the goal of not being left behind, we are taking advantage of some of the tools available that can extend our networks. We used Facebook to publicize recent events such as our Trends & Technology LSIG talks about social networking and our membership luau, sending invitations to those events through its embedded tools. It’s a little more advanced than sending a blanket e-mail announcement to a list server, and it’s a far cry from mailing printed invitations, which is what we did in previous years. Our group page on Facebook has attracted the attention of individuals as far away as Ireland and as close by as NC State University. We are glad when that attention draws someone new to attend one of our events, and opens new lines of communication and ideas—we hope that it inspires new membership.
Another tool we recently deployed for the chapter is LinkedIn. There’s now an STC Carolina LinkedIn group that chapter members with profiles can join. Add it to your LinkedIn profile.
If you don’t know about LinkedIn, check it out. It’s a way to set up a professional, Internet-based network. Think of LinkedIn as a Web-based Rolodex on steroids. You may have seen an article about it in the local paper’s business section one Sunday this summer. After you set up your profile on LinkedIn and allow others to view it, search engines can find information about you. LinkedIn provides you with a way to ask business or technical questions and get them quickly answered by knowledgeable professionals. You can get back in touch with old friends and colleagues. For example, I reconnected with a man I worked for 20 years ago, and he is now part of my network.
Make sure you are not violating any company policies if you use LinkedIn at work. Many employers, including SAS, do not allow you to access networks like these through corporate systems.
The business of technical writing is changing. The September/October 2007 issue of Intercom focuses on what Web 2.0 means to technical communicators. Web 2.0 refers to changes in technology that allow the Web to serve as a dynamic platform for collaboration and development. Think wikis, blogs, and social networking. Web 2.0 is a bridge to new skills for technical communicators to develop. That’s good, because the old skills aren’t going to serve us well in the years to come. I’m working on an article for a future issue of Intercom about the continued commoditization of “low-end” technical writing. The trend to outsource more mechanical technical communication tasks to workers with lower billing rates, often living several time zones away, is unstoppable. That shouldn’t make you panic, but it should make you think.
STC Carolina is planning an event in November to explore how to find your place in such a global technical communication market. Note the emphasis—it’s not that your job is going away. Your job is changing, and you need to guide the change.
Reinvention cannot stop. In the 21st century, technology has accelerated changes to our workplace so much that we cannot rest with the skill set and knowledge we have today. We must be willing to reach out and network. We must be eager to learn new things, to be alert to trends, and to be vigilant against obsolescence.
Reinvention must continue.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Shelfari
Everything links to everything else. I found an application called Shelfari that allows you to show what books you've read, are reading, or that you own. I learned about it through Facebook. I figured out how to make the changes to my Shelfari book collection show up on Facebook, the Shelfari web site, my Naymz page, and here.
I can't decide if this is geeky, cool, or a little of both.
I can't decide if this is geeky, cool, or a little of both.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Fasting
I'm to undergo a medical procedure tomorrow that requires that I fast all day today. Clear liquids only. Nothing red or purple.
So far, I've consumed a can of chicken broth and sixteen ounces of Gatorade. My wife just went out to buy some ginger ale and more broth.
My son's and daughter's breakfast smelled especially good this morning. He had an omelette and she had waffles with syrup. My stomach growled.
Not eating is making me grumpy. "Quit whining!" my wife said. "You can do this for one day." She's right, of course. I'm glad it's only one day.
So far, I've consumed a can of chicken broth and sixteen ounces of Gatorade. My wife just went out to buy some ginger ale and more broth.
My son's and daughter's breakfast smelled especially good this morning. He had an omelette and she had waffles with syrup. My stomach growled.
Not eating is making me grumpy. "Quit whining!" my wife said. "You can do this for one day." She's right, of course. I'm glad it's only one day.
Monday, September 03, 2007
High school
I've been thinking about high school lately. These past two weekends I drove two hours west to visit my parents. Mom's having some health issues, which have for the most part resolved. I needed to check in on Mom and Dad. I want to appreciate the time we have left.
When I drive through the town and visit the house where I grew up, remembering becomes reflexive. With my kids entering their teens, memories of my own teen years bubble to the surface. They're mostly good memories.
I remember certain individuals and moments from high school almost photographically. More generally, I remember being impatient to finish high school so that I could move on to college and the rest of my life.
I took my high school yearbooks off my parents' bookshelf and carted them home. I showed my class photos to my kids. "You look younger than everyone else," my daughter observed.
I skimmed the sea of fresh, exuberant faces. I perused my friends' comments jotted on the back pages and in the margins. Apart from the kinds of things you would expect to see written in a yearbook, things like "didn't we have fun in such and such a class," "hope we're in some of the same classes next year," and "to a good friend" I found things that I hope still apply to me.
"You're a good listener."
"You're a truly good person."
"You could be an outstanding writer. All it takes is a little self-discipline."
My daughter started high school last week. She's adjusting to her new schedule and a different homework load. I suspect she's also radically changing the way she looks at the world. It was during high school, especially the summer I spent at the Governor's School of North Carolina, when my questions about why things were the way they were became sharper, and my world view became more jaded. My daughter is testing her limits these days, just as I did over thirty years ago. She's thinking that she may want to become a writer.
When I started high school, my parents were younger than I am now, but I think I'm in better physical shape than they were then. My daughter is more self-disciplined about writing than I was then, but I think I may have something of value to teach her now about the craft, the art, and the experience of writing.
Good writing reflects an artful balance of living and remembering. Being present in the moment, at work or in high school, rather than living in anticipation of the next thing. Being honest but not brutal, true but not harsh. Remembering what happened, not what you wanted to happen or wished had happened. I can put words together, but assembling them so that my reader truly experiences what I'm expressing takes work.
I didn't really understand that in high school. I wonder if anyone does? The teacher who wrote that I could be an outstanding writer was admonishing me as much as she was complementing me.
I wish I had heard my teacher more clearly. I hope that my daughter hears me.
When I drive through the town and visit the house where I grew up, remembering becomes reflexive. With my kids entering their teens, memories of my own teen years bubble to the surface. They're mostly good memories.
I remember certain individuals and moments from high school almost photographically. More generally, I remember being impatient to finish high school so that I could move on to college and the rest of my life.
I took my high school yearbooks off my parents' bookshelf and carted them home. I showed my class photos to my kids. "You look younger than everyone else," my daughter observed.
I skimmed the sea of fresh, exuberant faces. I perused my friends' comments jotted on the back pages and in the margins. Apart from the kinds of things you would expect to see written in a yearbook, things like "didn't we have fun in such and such a class," "hope we're in some of the same classes next year," and "to a good friend" I found things that I hope still apply to me.
"You're a good listener."
"You're a truly good person."
"You could be an outstanding writer. All it takes is a little self-discipline."
My daughter started high school last week. She's adjusting to her new schedule and a different homework load. I suspect she's also radically changing the way she looks at the world. It was during high school, especially the summer I spent at the Governor's School of North Carolina, when my questions about why things were the way they were became sharper, and my world view became more jaded. My daughter is testing her limits these days, just as I did over thirty years ago. She's thinking that she may want to become a writer.
When I started high school, my parents were younger than I am now, but I think I'm in better physical shape than they were then. My daughter is more self-disciplined about writing than I was then, but I think I may have something of value to teach her now about the craft, the art, and the experience of writing.
Good writing reflects an artful balance of living and remembering. Being present in the moment, at work or in high school, rather than living in anticipation of the next thing. Being honest but not brutal, true but not harsh. Remembering what happened, not what you wanted to happen or wished had happened. I can put words together, but assembling them so that my reader truly experiences what I'm expressing takes work.
I didn't really understand that in high school. I wonder if anyone does? The teacher who wrote that I could be an outstanding writer was admonishing me as much as she was complementing me.
I wish I had heard my teacher more clearly. I hope that my daughter hears me.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Fall teases
The cooler temperatures we've enjoyed the last two days make me eager for fall. Yesterday I ran 12 in Umstead, running from my usual corner to the Reedy Creek Road bridge that crosses I-40 and then back. Even though it was humid, it was an easier run than last week's when Christopher and I were melting in heat plus humidity.
When I went out to get the newspaper this morning, I wished I had waited to go long today. The crisp air and cool breeze were glorious. I hope it's as pleasant tomorrow morning, when I hope to run 8.
When I went out to get the newspaper this morning, I wished I had waited to go long today. The crisp air and cool breeze were glorious. I hope it's as pleasant tomorrow morning, when I hope to run 8.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Low mileage week
After a long string of 30+ mile weeks, I finished only 23.2 last week. Between starting a new job, getting my daughter to soccer practice, going to the dentist, and presenting at an STC meeting, I simply couldn't squeeze in the workouts. Oh well. I'll try to get back on track this week.
Christopher and I ran 12.2 in Umstead early Saturday morning. It was brutally hot and humid. We encountered Eric as we were heading out of the park and onto Trenton Road. I wanted to see how far it would be to run to work. Eric was training for the City of Oaks Marathon. The three of us ran together for about 5 miles, then he continued down Ebenezer while Christopher and I turned into my neighborhood. By the time Christopher and I finished, we felt as though we had sweat half our body weight. When is this heat going to end?
Christopher and I ran 12.2 in Umstead early Saturday morning. It was brutally hot and humid. We encountered Eric as we were heading out of the park and onto Trenton Road. I wanted to see how far it would be to run to work. Eric was training for the City of Oaks Marathon. The three of us ran together for about 5 miles, then he continued down Ebenezer while Christopher and I turned into my neighborhood. By the time Christopher and I finished, we felt as though we had sweat half our body weight. When is this heat going to end?
First week at SAS
My manager stopped by my office this past Friday afternoon and asked "so how was your first week?" My genuine response was "Great! I'm really glad to be here."
He put this note on the Documentation Development website: "Michael Harvey, a person who seems to hardly need an introduction to our division, started in Business Analytics Documentation on August 20. He has a long career in technical writing, working most recently as a Senior Manager at EMC. Many in Doc Dev already know Michael, whether it be from his stint as a technical writing instructor at Durham Tech, his turn as a manager at Data General, or his leadership roles at the STC Carolina chapter (where he is currently the chapter president)..."
I'm really looking forward to learning about my subject matter (risk management), learning a new set of tools, and adapting to a new professional environment.
He put this note on the Documentation Development website: "Michael Harvey, a person who seems to hardly need an introduction to our division, started in Business Analytics Documentation on August 20. He has a long career in technical writing, working most recently as a Senior Manager at EMC. Many in Doc Dev already know Michael, whether it be from his stint as a technical writing instructor at Durham Tech, his turn as a manager at Data General, or his leadership roles at the STC Carolina chapter (where he is currently the chapter president)..."
I'm really looking forward to learning about my subject matter (risk management), learning a new set of tools, and adapting to a new professional environment.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Getting data OUT of Facebook
Getting data OUT of Facebook by ZDNet's Dennis Howlett -- One of the ongoing criticisms of Facebook is the perception that you can’t get data out. This goes down well with the open source crowd who love nothing better than a walled garden. That perception may be wrong. Here’s how. SAP’s Craig Cmehil scared the living daylights out of me yesterday by pulling some of my [...]
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Only three months
Time is relative. When I start work at SAS on August 20, I may look back and say to myself, "I was out of work for only three months." While I was out of work, the months seemed to drag on and on.
I think it was Einstein who said "When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity."
I think it was Einstein who said "When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity."
Reinventing myself
Here's an article I wrote for the Carolina Communique:
My most difficult task as a manager was to face colleagues, friends in many cases, and deliver the hard message that their position was being eliminated. Sometimes it was because of business conditions. Other times it was due to reorganization or rebalancing. Every time it was gut-wrenching, for the person getting the news and for me, the person who gave it.
Recently, I got the message. And so I am now engaged in a job search.
I began my career with my former employer as a Senior Technical Writer, responsible for TCP/IP and X.25 manuals. I became manager of my group a few years later. My employer rode out a lot of turbulence in the technology marketplace, but not without significant downsizing. A few years after I became a manager, my employer was acquired by another company. The new regime stabilized some uncertainty, but not all. Some years I could hire, other years I had to let people go. Some years I had over a dozen direct reports, other years, I had two or three. By the time we parted ways, I was the only one in my group who was there when I started.
I stayed with the company as long as I did because I was always given a chance to stretch professionally and grow personally. I never wanted for a challenge. I could work with and hire exceptional individuals. Tempted on occasion to take a position elsewhere, I stayed because I got opportunities to play to my strengths and do things I loved doing in the workplace.
Things changed. My organization could not sustain as many senior managers as it had. Tag, I’m it.
I was given thirty days to find another position within the company. If at the end of that time I had not found one, my active employment would end. I got generous help from my Human Resources representative in dealing with the shock and planning my next steps. Most appealing and appropriate positions were out of state. Moving was not an option for my family. So here I am.
It has been disorienting not to make the commute I had made for the past 19 years, and unsettling to realize that, in all likelihood, I will never drive it again. It has been sad not to see the folks I saw every day, exchanging small talk and tackling big problems.
After taking a couple of weeks to decompress, I reentered the job market. I met folks for lunch, networked, and asked for advice. I gathered information about other companies, what they do, how they do it, what they foresee for the future. I reached out to new groups, like TriUPA, the Triangle Usability Professionals Association, and to familiar ones, like STC. I answered the call of a friend and colleague to run again for president of our chapter.
I took advantage of my company’s engagement with a career services firm to learn how to manage my job search more effectively. They coached me on how to fine tune my resume and prepare for interviews. They gave me access to a wealth of resources about how to market myself effectively to an intelligently assembled list of target companies. An effective job search will require me learning and doing new things. It will require reinventing myself from a “Senior Manager, Engineering” for my employer to a “Technical Communication Professional.”
One of the exercises that firm had me do was to survey my professional environment. In other words, understand the trends having an impact on my profession so that I could “avoid dangers, identify opportunities, and make the right decisions about where (I) will best fit…”
In surveying my environment, I repeatedly found that “technical communication” as a profession is in the process of reinventing itself. In a previous column, I wrote about how and why we need to reexamine our job descriptions. A white paper I came across made a similar point. It said:
Technical writing teams face complex challenges as they struggle to help their companies get products to market faster. Increasingly sophisticated technical products and the need to deliver clearly written documentation in multiple media formats and languages are forcing them to work under intense pressure. …managers of technical writing teams have to contend with the widely held perception that the documentation team itself is a cost center and needs to be constrained. ...By adopting an approach that combines single-source technologies, information reuse standards such as DITA and innovative sourcing strategies that include offshoring and outsourcing certain tasks, technical writing teams can leapfrog the perception that they are merely cost centers and prove themselves a source of competitive advantage for their organizations.
We have to prove ourselves a source of competitive advantage. We have to market ourselves and our product in a different way. We have to partner with offshore colleagues, not wish that companies realize an error in engaging them. They won’t – geographically distributed teams are here to stay and some tasks are going to be performed by less costly workers elsewhere from now on. Adapting to our changing profession will mean learning and doing new and different things.
A by-product of my personal reinvention is that I’m now approaching my circumstances positively. My current full-time job is to find a new position where I can play to my strengths and do things I love doing in the workplace. Find a position where I can never want for a challenge, and where I have a chance to stretch professionally and grow personally. It is out there – I will find it.
As I continue my search, I will draw upon my experience and on my research to serve our chapter in the coming year. Even after I find my new position, I will continue to serve as best I can. I now have a keener appreciation of our STC community and the excellence therein. I want to be an active part of it as long as I can.
My most difficult task as a manager was to face colleagues, friends in many cases, and deliver the hard message that their position was being eliminated. Sometimes it was because of business conditions. Other times it was due to reorganization or rebalancing. Every time it was gut-wrenching, for the person getting the news and for me, the person who gave it.
Recently, I got the message. And so I am now engaged in a job search.
I began my career with my former employer as a Senior Technical Writer, responsible for TCP/IP and X.25 manuals. I became manager of my group a few years later. My employer rode out a lot of turbulence in the technology marketplace, but not without significant downsizing. A few years after I became a manager, my employer was acquired by another company. The new regime stabilized some uncertainty, but not all. Some years I could hire, other years I had to let people go. Some years I had over a dozen direct reports, other years, I had two or three. By the time we parted ways, I was the only one in my group who was there when I started.
I stayed with the company as long as I did because I was always given a chance to stretch professionally and grow personally. I never wanted for a challenge. I could work with and hire exceptional individuals. Tempted on occasion to take a position elsewhere, I stayed because I got opportunities to play to my strengths and do things I loved doing in the workplace.
Things changed. My organization could not sustain as many senior managers as it had. Tag, I’m it.
I was given thirty days to find another position within the company. If at the end of that time I had not found one, my active employment would end. I got generous help from my Human Resources representative in dealing with the shock and planning my next steps. Most appealing and appropriate positions were out of state. Moving was not an option for my family. So here I am.
It has been disorienting not to make the commute I had made for the past 19 years, and unsettling to realize that, in all likelihood, I will never drive it again. It has been sad not to see the folks I saw every day, exchanging small talk and tackling big problems.
After taking a couple of weeks to decompress, I reentered the job market. I met folks for lunch, networked, and asked for advice. I gathered information about other companies, what they do, how they do it, what they foresee for the future. I reached out to new groups, like TriUPA, the Triangle Usability Professionals Association, and to familiar ones, like STC. I answered the call of a friend and colleague to run again for president of our chapter.
I took advantage of my company’s engagement with a career services firm to learn how to manage my job search more effectively. They coached me on how to fine tune my resume and prepare for interviews. They gave me access to a wealth of resources about how to market myself effectively to an intelligently assembled list of target companies. An effective job search will require me learning and doing new things. It will require reinventing myself from a “Senior Manager, Engineering” for my employer to a “Technical Communication Professional.”
One of the exercises that firm had me do was to survey my professional environment. In other words, understand the trends having an impact on my profession so that I could “avoid dangers, identify opportunities, and make the right decisions about where (I) will best fit…”
In surveying my environment, I repeatedly found that “technical communication” as a profession is in the process of reinventing itself. In a previous column, I wrote about how and why we need to reexamine our job descriptions. A white paper I came across made a similar point. It said:
Technical writing teams face complex challenges as they struggle to help their companies get products to market faster. Increasingly sophisticated technical products and the need to deliver clearly written documentation in multiple media formats and languages are forcing them to work under intense pressure. …managers of technical writing teams have to contend with the widely held perception that the documentation team itself is a cost center and needs to be constrained. ...By adopting an approach that combines single-source technologies, information reuse standards such as DITA and innovative sourcing strategies that include offshoring and outsourcing certain tasks, technical writing teams can leapfrog the perception that they are merely cost centers and prove themselves a source of competitive advantage for their organizations.
We have to prove ourselves a source of competitive advantage. We have to market ourselves and our product in a different way. We have to partner with offshore colleagues, not wish that companies realize an error in engaging them. They won’t – geographically distributed teams are here to stay and some tasks are going to be performed by less costly workers elsewhere from now on. Adapting to our changing profession will mean learning and doing new and different things.
A by-product of my personal reinvention is that I’m now approaching my circumstances positively. My current full-time job is to find a new position where I can play to my strengths and do things I love doing in the workplace. Find a position where I can never want for a challenge, and where I have a chance to stretch professionally and grow personally. It is out there – I will find it.
As I continue my search, I will draw upon my experience and on my research to serve our chapter in the coming year. Even after I find my new position, I will continue to serve as best I can. I now have a keener appreciation of our STC community and the excellence therein. I want to be an active part of it as long as I can.
1000 miles
Today I ran 5 miles on an out-and-back course into and out of Umstead Park. It was hot and humid, but I felt surprisingly strong coming up the hill on the return leg. When I entered the mileage in my running log, I discovered that I've run 1000 miles in 2007 (so far).
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Inquiring minds want to know
Today I got e-mail from an old friend inviting me to be his friend on Facebook. I accepted the invitation.
Several hours later, I finally stopped tweaking my own Facebook page. I had inserted cross references to this blog. I had uploaded photos from my last two marathons. I had joined a regional network. I could have kept going but the sun was going down and I felt a need to attend to important things in 3-D space.
My cyberspace presence thus expanded, I return to this blog to attempt to record my thoughts about creating a Facebook page.
On the one hand, it feels terribly self-indulgent. Now everyone in the Raleigh-Durham Facebook network can discover that I like the Beatles. That I'm a serious runner. They can see what books I've read recently. They can read these blog entries. Big deal.
On the other, it might lead to like-minded individuals contacting me and sharing information of mutual interest. It might start a correspondence. Spark a potential business venture. Lead to an actual meeting in 3-D space. Who knows what?
My wife is profoundly skeptical of blogs, Facebook entires, and the like. She reveals herself to others in real time in the real world on her terms.
I, more trusting of cyberspace, maybe foolishly so, take the risk.
Several hours later, I finally stopped tweaking my own Facebook page. I had inserted cross references to this blog. I had uploaded photos from my last two marathons. I had joined a regional network. I could have kept going but the sun was going down and I felt a need to attend to important things in 3-D space.
My cyberspace presence thus expanded, I return to this blog to attempt to record my thoughts about creating a Facebook page.
On the one hand, it feels terribly self-indulgent. Now everyone in the Raleigh-Durham Facebook network can discover that I like the Beatles. That I'm a serious runner. They can see what books I've read recently. They can read these blog entries. Big deal.
On the other, it might lead to like-minded individuals contacting me and sharing information of mutual interest. It might start a correspondence. Spark a potential business venture. Lead to an actual meeting in 3-D space. Who knows what?
My wife is profoundly skeptical of blogs, Facebook entires, and the like. She reveals herself to others in real time in the real world on her terms.
I, more trusting of cyberspace, maybe foolishly so, take the risk.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Another blog
I've started another blog on KeyContent.org to "document the process of letting go of the old and reinventing a new work self."
http://www.keycontent.org/tiki-view_blog.php?blogId=9
But if a blog starts on the Internet and there's no one there to read it, does it make a difference?
http://www.keycontent.org/tiki-view_blog.php?blogId=9
But if a blog starts on the Internet and there's no one there to read it, does it make a difference?
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
19 years later
Nineteen years ago this month, I started work at Data General as a Senior Technical Writer and Editor. My first day on the job, my office did not have a phone.
Data General was acquired by EMC in 1999. Many of us wondered whether we would keep our jobs. Some of us did not, but I did.
In late March of this year, I was told that my position at EMC was going to be eliminated. For the first time in over 20 years, I'm job hunting.
My marathon training is coming in handy - don't start out too fast, pace yourself, get into a groove, it's going to be a long event so hang in there.
Data General was acquired by EMC in 1999. Many of us wondered whether we would keep our jobs. Some of us did not, but I did.
In late March of this year, I was told that my position at EMC was going to be eliminated. For the first time in over 20 years, I'm job hunting.
My marathon training is coming in handy - don't start out too fast, pace yourself, get into a groove, it's going to be a long event so hang in there.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Is technical writing your calling?
Here's an article I wrote for the Carolina Communique.
Over the past several weeks we’ve interviewed candidates to fill an open position in my group. Afterwards, each interviewer completes a form that closes with a hiring recommendation: hire immediately, hire, consider, or do not hire.
After one interview, a member of my staff recommended to “consider” even though everyone else said “hire” or better. I asked her about it. “I have concerns,” she said, “because she said that she doesn’t consider technical writing her calling.”
This made me stop and think. Is technical writing my calling? Is it a calling at all? What is a calling?
Definitions vary. One says that a calling is “the particular occupation for which you are trained.” I was never trained for technical writing, but I did teach the subject for three years at Durham Technical Community College. Another definition says it’s “an objective or task that somebody believes it is his or her duty to carry out or to which he or she attaches special importance and devotes special care.” I devote special care to what I do, but is it a duty? I suppose my employer would say yes. A third definition says “a process whereby the parish discerns whom God is calling to various ministry roles in the life of the church including ordained ministries.”
This is closer to what I think when I hear the word “calling.” Whether or not you believe in God, a “calling” implies a summons from a “higher” authority. It moves out of the realm of choice and into one of obligation or obedience – you must follow a calling. And it is a joyful compulsion – most are glad to find and follow their calling. Most relish the tasks that a calling requires.
Marguerite Moore was a member of my staff, on and off, from the early 1990s until just last year. She built a very successful technical writing career since graduating from the Durham Tech program. She walked away from that career to accept an invitation to attend Princeton Theological Seminary. She was pursuing her calling – the ministry. As I said when I announced her departure:
On the one hand, I am joyful for Marguerite in taking this courageous step to follow her calling. On the other, I am sad because I will miss her and our organization will be the poorer for her absence.
For Marguerite, technical writing was not a calling even though it was something to which she attached special importance and devoted special care. That care was reflected in the high quality of her work. It was important to her to get her deliverables as clear, correct, concise, and conversational as she could. But I am pretty sure she would tell you that God called her elsewhere.
Personally, I don’t think that writing installation manuals, product guides, or help panels is a calling. It’s a job – an enjoyable career if you’re good at it. The underlying activity – clearly communicating complex concepts or procedures to help someone get work done – feels close to a calling. Clear communication makes a connection between human beings or between ideas, creates understanding, and promotes efficiency and order. Those are inherently good, if imprecise, goals to pursue.
I believe I’ve pursued good goals in my job. When I think back to the tasks I have enjoyed most during my career (which is a good interview question, by the way, because the answer gives you insight into a candidate’s strengths), I invariably recall those when I made that kind of connection. I connected two disparate ideas to create a new one. I connected sentences and paragraphs into a flowing chapter or article. I connected old paragraphs with ones I had just written and forged a seamless whole. I brought opponents into a room and, by pointing out how their positions connected, fashioned consensus. I won someone over to my point of view without trampling on theirs – we emerged from the conversation seeing things the same way. I remember reaching something like a state of flow during these times. There were good outcomes in each case. Making a connection is a truly human activity, which my job as a writer and a manager for a technology company gives me the opportunity to perform.
So my career is writing and managing, but my calling is…what? Communication? Ideation? Diplomacy? No, those are my strengths.
The interviewer who recommended “consider” originally envisioned a career in the non-profit field. She gets joy from helping others. While she was in school, she performed charity work with United Way, Boys and Girls Clubs, local development centers, and the like. After she finished school, she couldn’t afford a move to Virginia for a job as Marketing Manger for a United Way office. She had always enjoyed writing, so she snagged a job close to home as a technical writer, using her undergraduate degree in communications as credentials. She took graduate level courses in Technical Communications, her company footing the bill. That led to attending the first TriDoc, which led to a technical writing career in RTP. For her, the challenge of rendering chaotic material into something useful is a way of helping other people. She turns her job into her calling: helping. She makes a connection with others who follow that calling.
We extended an offer to that candidate, by the way. For various reasons, our funding limited us to a part-time position. The candidate expressed a willingness to take it so that she could spend time pursuing other interests, and perhaps through that pursuit find her calling. I thought she’d be a valuable addition to our team, as the quality of her work and the wealth of her experience would be assets to our productivity. We’re waiting to hear whether she accepts our offer.
All this leaves me still wondering whether technical writing is my calling. I don’t know. In the meantime, I’ll continue to seek the moments of flow, the opportunities for connection, and the good outcomes. So should you.
Over the past several weeks we’ve interviewed candidates to fill an open position in my group. Afterwards, each interviewer completes a form that closes with a hiring recommendation: hire immediately, hire, consider, or do not hire.
After one interview, a member of my staff recommended to “consider” even though everyone else said “hire” or better. I asked her about it. “I have concerns,” she said, “because she said that she doesn’t consider technical writing her calling.”
This made me stop and think. Is technical writing my calling? Is it a calling at all? What is a calling?
Definitions vary. One says that a calling is “the particular occupation for which you are trained.” I was never trained for technical writing, but I did teach the subject for three years at Durham Technical Community College. Another definition says it’s “an objective or task that somebody believes it is his or her duty to carry out or to which he or she attaches special importance and devotes special care.” I devote special care to what I do, but is it a duty? I suppose my employer would say yes. A third definition says “a process whereby the parish discerns whom God is calling to various ministry roles in the life of the church including ordained ministries.”
This is closer to what I think when I hear the word “calling.” Whether or not you believe in God, a “calling” implies a summons from a “higher” authority. It moves out of the realm of choice and into one of obligation or obedience – you must follow a calling. And it is a joyful compulsion – most are glad to find and follow their calling. Most relish the tasks that a calling requires.
Marguerite Moore was a member of my staff, on and off, from the early 1990s until just last year. She built a very successful technical writing career since graduating from the Durham Tech program. She walked away from that career to accept an invitation to attend Princeton Theological Seminary. She was pursuing her calling – the ministry. As I said when I announced her departure:
On the one hand, I am joyful for Marguerite in taking this courageous step to follow her calling. On the other, I am sad because I will miss her and our organization will be the poorer for her absence.
For Marguerite, technical writing was not a calling even though it was something to which she attached special importance and devoted special care. That care was reflected in the high quality of her work. It was important to her to get her deliverables as clear, correct, concise, and conversational as she could. But I am pretty sure she would tell you that God called her elsewhere.
Personally, I don’t think that writing installation manuals, product guides, or help panels is a calling. It’s a job – an enjoyable career if you’re good at it. The underlying activity – clearly communicating complex concepts or procedures to help someone get work done – feels close to a calling. Clear communication makes a connection between human beings or between ideas, creates understanding, and promotes efficiency and order. Those are inherently good, if imprecise, goals to pursue.
I believe I’ve pursued good goals in my job. When I think back to the tasks I have enjoyed most during my career (which is a good interview question, by the way, because the answer gives you insight into a candidate’s strengths), I invariably recall those when I made that kind of connection. I connected two disparate ideas to create a new one. I connected sentences and paragraphs into a flowing chapter or article. I connected old paragraphs with ones I had just written and forged a seamless whole. I brought opponents into a room and, by pointing out how their positions connected, fashioned consensus. I won someone over to my point of view without trampling on theirs – we emerged from the conversation seeing things the same way. I remember reaching something like a state of flow during these times. There were good outcomes in each case. Making a connection is a truly human activity, which my job as a writer and a manager for a technology company gives me the opportunity to perform.
So my career is writing and managing, but my calling is…what? Communication? Ideation? Diplomacy? No, those are my strengths.
The interviewer who recommended “consider” originally envisioned a career in the non-profit field. She gets joy from helping others. While she was in school, she performed charity work with United Way, Boys and Girls Clubs, local development centers, and the like. After she finished school, she couldn’t afford a move to Virginia for a job as Marketing Manger for a United Way office. She had always enjoyed writing, so she snagged a job close to home as a technical writer, using her undergraduate degree in communications as credentials. She took graduate level courses in Technical Communications, her company footing the bill. That led to attending the first TriDoc, which led to a technical writing career in RTP. For her, the challenge of rendering chaotic material into something useful is a way of helping other people. She turns her job into her calling: helping. She makes a connection with others who follow that calling.
We extended an offer to that candidate, by the way. For various reasons, our funding limited us to a part-time position. The candidate expressed a willingness to take it so that she could spend time pursuing other interests, and perhaps through that pursuit find her calling. I thought she’d be a valuable addition to our team, as the quality of her work and the wealth of her experience would be assets to our productivity. We’re waiting to hear whether she accepts our offer.
All this leaves me still wondering whether technical writing is my calling. I don’t know. In the meantime, I’ll continue to seek the moments of flow, the opportunities for connection, and the good outcomes. So should you.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
One week after the marathon
Amazing!
In December, I was marveling at finishing a little over 12 in Umstead in 1:50:06.
Yesterday, one week after posting a marathon PR at Myrtle Beach, I ran 12.6 in Umstead in 1:47:18.
So in the following months, I'll maintain weekly distances of 25-30 or better, continue to strength train twice a week, and cross train on "rest days."
In December, I was marveling at finishing a little over 12 in Umstead in 1:50:06.
Yesterday, one week after posting a marathon PR at Myrtle Beach, I ran 12.6 in Umstead in 1:47:18.
So in the following months, I'll maintain weekly distances of 25-30 or better, continue to strength train twice a week, and cross train on "rest days."
Finally!
I finished the Myrtle Beach Marathon on February 17 in 3:58:15 (gun time)/3:57:10 (chip time) - finally broke four hours!
Here are my pace splits according to my GPS:
8'43"
8'18"
8'19"
8'53"
8'29"
8'51"
8'56"
8'54"
8'56"
9'00"
8'57"
9'04"
9'04"
9'01"
9'01"
8'57"
9'01"
8'58"
9'20"
9'02"
9'03"
9'07"
9'09"
9'29"
9'16"
9'19"
9'00"
According to my GPS, I covered 26.47 miles. It took a minute to cross the start line, I did weave in and out of traffic quite a bit, and I took a short detour to pee in the woods once.
I got into a groove after mile 6, listening to the playlist I had created for my iPod, allowing the music to help me focus on my form and my breathing. As the splits show, a headwind and some distractions slowed me down on mile 19, but I got back into swing fairly quickly. I started to tire around 22, but I just relaxed and kept leading with my core. At mile 24, I started to feel a twinge in my left hamstring. I remember exclaiming out loud, "no, no cramp this time." Passing folks who were walking, stretching, or hobbling after that, I just doubled down and kept focused on form, listening to my music. When I saw the split at mile 26, I was ecstatic!
As my last post showed, I was running very well in December, covering 15 miles with relative ease. I had time to train properly for Myrtle Beach, so I scheduled longer runs to test my legs. I finished strong on my 17, 18, 20, and 22 mile runs and I recovered from them more quickly than ever before. So after my 20 mile run, I talked things over with my wife and registered for the marathon. We made it into a beach trip for the family.
I went into this event more confident in my ability to go the distance than for all previous marathons. It took six years, but I met my goal.
Now, should I even think of trying to qualify for Boston?
Here are my pace splits according to my GPS:
8'43"
8'18"
8'19"
8'53"
8'29"
8'51"
8'56"
8'54"
8'56"
9'00"
8'57"
9'04"
9'04"
9'01"
9'01"
8'57"
9'01"
8'58"
9'20"
9'02"
9'03"
9'07"
9'09"
9'29"
9'16"
9'19"
9'00"
According to my GPS, I covered 26.47 miles. It took a minute to cross the start line, I did weave in and out of traffic quite a bit, and I took a short detour to pee in the woods once.
I got into a groove after mile 6, listening to the playlist I had created for my iPod, allowing the music to help me focus on my form and my breathing. As the splits show, a headwind and some distractions slowed me down on mile 19, but I got back into swing fairly quickly. I started to tire around 22, but I just relaxed and kept leading with my core. At mile 24, I started to feel a twinge in my left hamstring. I remember exclaiming out loud, "no, no cramp this time." Passing folks who were walking, stretching, or hobbling after that, I just doubled down and kept focused on form, listening to my music. When I saw the split at mile 26, I was ecstatic!
As my last post showed, I was running very well in December, covering 15 miles with relative ease. I had time to train properly for Myrtle Beach, so I scheduled longer runs to test my legs. I finished strong on my 17, 18, 20, and 22 mile runs and I recovered from them more quickly than ever before. So after my 20 mile run, I talked things over with my wife and registered for the marathon. We made it into a beach trip for the family.
I went into this event more confident in my ability to go the distance than for all previous marathons. It took six years, but I met my goal.
Now, should I even think of trying to qualify for Boston?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
