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Tech Comm and Engineering—A Twisted Connection |
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Upon entering the technical communication (TC) field, I noticed an “anti-engineering” stance — kind of an “us against them” mentality. I would hear how difficult such and such engineer was, or “the problem is the lack of information from the engineers,” and so on. In a recent graduate course on the history of TC, I discovered that TC (and technical writing) actually originated in the field of engineering, and that the practice of technical writing was a “branch off” from engineers initially having to write their own specs and materials to being able to farm out the work to designated individuals — the technical writers. From those common origins, you would think that the engineer would have developed a mindset to help the TC individual, the one who is relieving engineers of a task that they find a burden (at least today). Although writers do encounter the problem engineer, we also discover the nice and helpful engineer too. At a company where I formerly was employed, we had a technical writer who took appropriate training and transferred into an engineer position. Thus, it seemed, we would have one of us “on the other side.” Not quite. Instead of becoming an advocate for strengthening the relationship between TC and the engineers (since she knew firsthand what challenges can arise), she was heard to say that she would “dump as much s___ on the writers as she had dumped on her.” How helpful. In The Rise of Technical Writing Instruction in America (pg. 175), Robert Connors conveys, “…English teachers saw engineers as soulless technicians, while engineers saw English teachers as dreaming aesthetes, promoting ‘refinement and culture’ to the exclusion of reality.” Today, we could probably replace this passage with “Technical writers see engineers …, while engineers see technical writers …” to reflect the current development environment. (Or rather sometimes how the development environment can be, but not always.) |
Reference |
Connors, Robert J. “The Rise of Technical Writing Instruction in America.” Three Keys to the Past: The History of Technical Communication, Teresa C. Kynell and Michael G. Moran, Editors. Ablex Publishing Corp.: Stamford, CT, 1999, 173-195. |
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About the Author: Jeff Staples, STC Senior Member of the Houston Chapter, is an Information Developer in Houston, where he creates online and print documentation. |