communication catalysts: changing the world by doing our jobs

Post on 19-Oct-2014

117 Views

Category:

Leadership & Management

0 Downloads

Preview:

Click to see full reader

DESCRIPTION

As technical communicators, we touch every product, process, and service on this planet (and off of it). Without us, governments would fall, inventors would have a hard time getting their products to users, and patients would die. In short, no product, process, or service would function very well. Yet, because our work is part of the infrastructure, we often don’t hear about how we’re doing until something goes wrong. Kit Brown-Hoekstra takes a look at how we can act as catalysts for positive change in the world, just by doing our jobs well. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines a catalyst as “an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action.” During this talk, we will look at different kinds of change,and how we, as technical communicators, can influence and change processes to make our world a better place.

TRANSCRIPT

Catalysts:Changing the World by Doing Our JobsKATHERINE (KIT) BROWN-HOEKSTRA

Introductions

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

2

Pangaea Papers blog

About You

What do you like best about your job?

What’s your passion?

How do you change the world?

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

3

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

4

What Does it Mean?

http://barry-overstreet.com/the-world-is-changing/

The only constant is change.

Heraclitius

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

5

Big Change

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11

http://commerce.idaho.gov/communities/internet-marketing/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotive

Small Change

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

7

http://www.dlysen.com/friends-love-at-all-times/#_Image: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Plodding Change

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture

http://gigaom.com/cloud/cloud-and-the-evolution-of-the-enterprise-architect/

Accidental Change

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

9

http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=A_Fleming_dnhs_US_2010

http://wp.stockton.edu/gfb1/2012/04/15/gene-mutation-play-critically-important-role-in-myeloid-leukemia-promising-development-in-new-treatments/

Image: Rameshng /CreativeCommons.org

Positive Change

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

10

Image: piyaphantawong /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

http://osu110delaware.blogspot.com/2009/11/end-of-apartheid-nelson-mandela-nobel.html

Image courtesy of Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Negative Change

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

11

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_explosion

http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/waldo-canyon-fire-wildfire-near-colorado-springs-grows-0

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1994377,00.html

AP Photo

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

12

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

13

Image: Zuzzuillo / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Catalysts

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

14

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobsen's_catalyst

”--Margaret Mead

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

15

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

16

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

17

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

18

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/03/the_worst_funeral_ever.php

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis 19

So What Does this Have to Do with Tech Com?

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

20

http://content.lib.washington.edu/farquharsonweb/

Cost of Doing it Wrong• A power transformer company was sued for $5M after a transformer blew up due to

badly worded and confusing documentation

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

21

Example thanks to Etteplan |Tedopres graphic: http://seeclab.com/teaching/ecen-459-power-systems/

Cost of Doing it WrongFailure to convert English measures to metric values caused the loss of the Mars Climate

Orbiter, a spacecraft that smashed into the planet instead of reaching a safe orbit. Total project cost: $327.6M.

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

22

Example thanks to Etteplan |Tedopres graphic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter/

Cost of Doing it Wrong• $11.9 MILLION JURY VERDICT against a manufacturer of an aerial lift device for failure to

adequately warn of the electrocution hazards of the product and cover exposed metal on the boom tip of the lift truck.

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

23

Example thanks to Etteplan |Tedopres graphic: http://www.buckettrucks.org/pitman.htm

Cost of Doing it Wrong• American Airlines had to ground their fleet of MD80s due ambiguity in the

documentation.

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

24

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

25

© The Flintstones

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

26

OR

© The Flintstones

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

27

Know Thy Motivations

Reward/Remuneration

Influence

Belonging

Significance

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

28

Work from Thy Strengths

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

29

iStock photos

Get the Word Out

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

30

http://promobiledj.com/2013/07/proper-communication-at-weddings/

Take a Larger View

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

31

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

32

Caution!

http://www.blogging4jobs.com/work/know-your-power/

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

33

14 April 2014 (c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

34

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

”--Ralph Waldo Emerson

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

35To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exhultation; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived--this is to have succeeded.

Contact Information

Kit Brown-Hoekstra

Comgenesis, LLC

Phone: +1 720.542.3075

Email: kit.brown@comgenesis.com

Twitter: @kitcomgenesis

www.pangaeapapers.com

www.comgenesis.com

14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis

36

top related