communication catalysts: changing the world by doing our jobs
Post on 19-Oct-2014
117 views
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: [email protected]
Twitter: @kitcomgenesis
www.pangaeapapers.com
www.comgenesis.com
14 April 2014(c) 2014, Comgenesis, LLC | @kitcomgenesis
36