Quality SIG of STC Article:
Quality--A Journey, not a Destination
Sometimes it may feel to you that achieving quality is not enough. What's the point of reaching the top of your game when the game keeps changing? One day you're a master of documenting command-line parameters; the next you're struggling with browser interfaces. One day you're confidently describing routers and bridges; the next you're uncertainly trying to learn about PBXs. One day you're pleased to hold a beautifully printed book; the next you're compiling a PDF file. Even your job may shift away, outsourced or cut--it doesn't really matter which, if it moves away from you.
So, with everything that's changed, is the notion of quality still meaningful? Does quality still matter? I think it does, and here's why.
Paradigms may shift, but I think there exist underlying fundamentals that don't. To draw on analogies from my previous columns: The manufacturers of horse-drawn carriages saw their market evaporate, and yet travelers still want to go from one place to another in safety, comfort and style--they just want to get there faster and without having to feed and exercise their transportation. Few manufacturers of wristwatches survived the shift to the quartz movement, and yet people still want to get the time with accuracy, economy, and, again, style. Finally, we've seen seismic shifts in how we produce information products (I can't even call them documents any more!), and yet our readers still want timely and accurate information (and, if we can sneak it in, a little style). After more than twenty-five years in the field of technical communication, I'm doing almost everything differently, and yet I still have the same goals, and still seek better ways to reach them.
In my first column in this series, I offered an inward-pointing metaphor. In this, my last column, I offer an upward-pointing one: Seeking quality results is like climbing a mountain. The peak may be obscured by clouds, so you may not know when you reach it; but you know that the right direction is up. You may encounter obstacles along the way, and you might even have to change your approach (as we've changed paradigms and presentations); but a different path might be easier and faster. Having the right equipment eases the climb. And--of course!--you want to measure your progress, to know how far you've come, how much farther you have to go, and how far others have gotten.
I don't feel like Sisyphus, pushing a rock up the hill but doomed to failure. I am essentially an optimist. The journey is the reward. Even if you never reach the summit, so long as you strive to do the best work you can do--and can quantify it--then you, your boss, and your audience will be satisfied.