Strange Phrase: Hoisted by His Own Petard

For tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist with his owne petar.

 -- Hamlet

Petard or petar was a container filled with explosives and placed against a gate to encourage it to open. The word itself comes from the Middle French word meaning to fart. So, what has this to do with hoisting anyone to his just deserts?

Unwelcome guests would place a petard on a long lever arm. The lever arm's mount resembled that of a trebuchet. The machine would sling the petard over against the gate and hold it in position while its operators remaining behind cover.

Upon release, the arm would hoist a careless, entangled army engineer toward the gate along with the petard. If this occurred at the wrong moment, it would result in the undoing of the engineer's structural integrity.

References

• Hoist with your own petard. The Phrase Finder. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/hoist by your own petard.html.
• Petard. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petard.

To maintain propriety, I formated this post using Trebuchet font.

Manipulating Employees into Overtime

It is my honor to compensate for my failings and it is my pleasure to donate to what I support.

Your work ethic, probably like mine, demands of you an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. If I underperform, I will use my personal time to make up the quantity or quality of work that I should have produced. My work ethic frees me to donate my personal time to help my company and my coworkers.

Any attempt through extortion or fraud to obtain what I have not agreed to provide, however, dishonors me. It devalues my time and personal value, dishonors the contract between me and my employer, and disrupts my relationship with my managers.

They say "time is money." Taking time without compensation steals money.

Time is also life. Taking time without compensation steals life.

My managers used the tactics described by Geoffrey James to manipulate their people many times during my career. Many did it with the best of intentions, since they had fallen for the tactics themselves. To them, I would say what these paragraphs contain with respect and only in chunks that they could handle.

It feels great to think of oneself as professional, especially when starting one's career. However, unless you have a masters degree, a doctorate, or some sort of recognitions such as Professional Engineer, member of the State Bar, or physician's license, think twice before calling yourself a professional. It's one thing to be professional (adjective) and exercise professionalism. It's another thing to be a professional, be compensated as a professional, and have the demands that go with such compensation placed upon you.

If you supervise people, always remember that taking your employees' time by coercion or by fraud steals their money and life, just as surely as did the thief who stole my boat motor. What you steal from employees, you steal from their friends, their families, their causes. Moreover, disrupting their recovery or study time will erode their spirits, their energy, and their ability to grow.

Imposing your pressure-formed work ethic on others will produce unintended consequences. Productivity and quality will erode. Happily donated time will become resented stolen time. Growing employees will stagnate. Your community and its values will deteriorate. You will exacerbate the class divides that progressives and Marxists seek to exploit, thus the justifying government interference that hinders business and saps profits.

Even if you do not believe in karma or in Judgement Day, in the end, you will repay.

Reference: James, Geoffrey. The 7 Dirty Tricks That Bosses Play (and How to Cope). BNet: Commentary. 21 April 2011. http://www.bnet.com/blog/salesmachine/the-7-dirty-tricks-that-bosses-play-and-how-to-cope/15211?promo=713&tag=nl.e713

Copyright 2011, Richard Wheeler

My Tech Support War Story

I've known people who were... not exactly computer literate.

One day at work, I heard a cranky old engineer over the cubicle wall. "Blank blank blank blankety blank!"

(Pause....)

"Blank blank blank blankety blank!"

(Pause....)

"Blank blank blank blankety blank!"

He asked his neighbor for the number for tech support. It was "2-HELP."

"Blank blank blank blankety blank!"

"Hello? I'm having a problem with my computer...."

I listened for a while and grew increasingly amused. Tech support couldn't figure it out, either. SLAM went the telephone. "Blank blank blank blankety blank!"

I walked around Cubicle Island and approached him. "Hey Del. Can I help you with something?" By now, I was about to bust a gut, but not from laughing; rather, from holding back the laughter.

"Blank blank! I don't think so. Even the Help Desk couldn't figure it out. They said they'd have to send somebody to look at my computer."

"Well, since I have eyes on the situation (and, I didn't mention, since I know you), why don't you tell me your problem?" I already knew the problem, but this was too fun not to drag out.

"Every time I type something, what was already there disappears! Blank blank computers!"

I said, "Del, on the right side of your keyboard, above the arrow keys, you will see a key that says, 'Ins.' That is your Insert key. Tap it one time and then try typing again."

Sure enough, that fixed the problem.

Nit of the Day: Panes vs. Panels

A member of LinkedIn's Technical Writer Forum asked, I want to find out the difference usage of these two words: pane and panel. e.g. There are two panes or panels on this screen. You can place a dockable panel (not pane) anywhere on the screen. (sic)

A panel is a flat, physical area, usually containing controls, receptacles, a display such as an LED or LCD screen, or allowing users to remove it for access to whatever lies behind it. A screen is, technically, a physical, displaying area of a panel.

A pane is a section of a window. For a physical example, a paned window is a window that is divided into sections known as panes. Originally, the meaning pertained to sectioned glass windows in walls. (Wikipedia).

Thus, panes in Word 2007 would include the title bar where it shows the names of file and of the application, a menu bar, a "ribbon" bar, the editing area, a status bar, and optional ruler bars.

Microsoft uses "task pane" to designate an area sectioned off from the main area of an application and used for some function. For example, in Excel 2007, if you click on Review, Thesaurus, Excel will divide off a portion of the editing pane to create a dialog pane so you can search for synonyms.

MS Office task panes are dockable: You can drag them to different borders of the window or leave them to float, independent of the application window. Thus, Office task panes can convert between panes and pop-up windows.

• Panes make up windows.
• Windows occupy the screen.
• The flat-panel display houses the screen.

The screen is both physical and virtual, whereas the panel is only physical, and the panes and windows are virtual.

To correct the question:

Better: There are two panes or panels on in this window screen. You can place a dockable panel (not pane) at any margin of the editing area, or you can leave it as a pop-up window anywhere on the screen.

Best: This window has two panes....

If the company style book differs, however, remember the Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules.

----------------------

IT Metrics and Productivity Institute (ITMPI) Premium membership gives members free access to 400 PDU-accredited webinar recordings and waives the PDU processing fees. The library is growing at about 100 webinars per year. Check it out: http://mbsy.co/dPHm?s=e

The New Resume: For Experienced Workers

Long-term worker, expect resume-shock.

If you haven't explored the job market in five or ten years, you probably need a whole new resume. What works best has not changed, but what's commonly recommended has. Throw out all your old materials about resumes.

• Older materials explain the Functional style. Recruiters and hiring managers reflexively ask, "what is the applicant hiding?" and give functional resumes a quick toss.
  
  
• Many older samples used paragraphs; but paragraphs have given way to concise bullet points.
  
  
• Your descriptions of achievements, employment history, and objectives may need a radial re-write..

It's not about me.

Your Achievements and Employment History sections used to describe what you did. Now, every description must state how well you did it or how it will benefit the reader.

The same applies to the Objectives statement. Replace it. First, the application or cover letter should make it obvious which job you want. Second, emphasize what you bring to the pot luck, not what you hope others will bring. Your resume is a marketing device, not a Request for Proposal.

That's tough for long-term cogs of giant machines where managers rarely communicate the significance of the work. Restating my duties as accomplishments with numbers and results, and figuring out my work's significance from 10, 15, or 20+ years ago required a lot of research. But it has to be done.

Value propositions are in.

Look at the job description and at the company's mission and objectives statements. Figure out the business case for the job. How do the job requirements support the employer's goals?

Then consider your abilities that match the job requirements. Why does the employer want somebody with your skill? What is the value of your skill? Ask and re-ask what happens for the employer if your skill provides that value. Stop when you get past your sphere of influence, and take a step back. Now you can state the value you will bring by doing what you do.

Don't claim the VP's accomplishments. State that your redesign saved the final $2 million that made selling doohickeys profitable, but don't claim to have saved the Division (unless you really did). For example, if the required life of a satellite was seven years, you could describe how you contributed to on-board diagnostics that extended the life to 15 years.

Specifics build a case for the truth of your claimed abilities.

Set a time limit to avoid agism.

By the way, only go back ten (plus or minus) years. If you haven't lost the skills you had in ancient history, they've probably become obsolete. I break that rule. I divide my employment history into Recent Employment and Early Employment (>10 years ago) and go back all the way. I enjoyed and want to return to those older jobs. Without the older jobs, I can't support some of my claimed abilities. However, if I can support my claim to be qualified for a job based on my recent employment history, I chop out the Earlier section.

Let the shoe fit the foot.

This goes to tailoring your resume for each position. The combination format allows me to sort my Accomplishments so the most relevant skills appear at the top. It also allows me to delete distracting, irrelevant skills.

If you apply for a variety of jobs on a corporate site, however, they probably limit the number of versions of your resume. In that case, you have to keep each version of your resume longer and more general.

Less is more, but more is more, too.

Starting out, one page is reasonable. Short and relevant is best. A lot of technical managers want details, though. Making them get out a magnifying glass is not the way to do it. A veteran engineer who organizes a resume with lots of headings gets the "core competencies" across in a 15-second reading. If that 15-second read catches the hiring manager's interest, the applicant will probably get away with two or three pages.

Apart from the part about job objectives, Barclay's podcast provides a great overview.

Note: Most European employers and many American professions such as academia and research require curriculum vitae (CVs), not resumes. All I know about CVs is that they can run many pages.

Conclusion.

The worst resume mistakes of 2011 include describing what you want or what you have done. Every statement of proposed value, accomplishment, or history should demonstrate how you will support the employer's business. Keep it as short and as simple as you can, but include enough to support each claim you make.

For a good audio over view of resume writing (except that he still uses Objectives instead of Value Statements), visit The Job Stalker - PodClass III - Resumes.

Must versus Shall

Updated 2 April 2011

Many think "shall" wishy-washy and "must" unambiguous. They have it backwards.

Few understand the differences between "will," "must," and "shall." For example, since "shall" conveys a sense of weightiness, people often use it pretentiously when "will" would do.

The ambiguity of "shall" lies not in the word, but in confused vocabularies. "Must" has ambiguous timing, certainty, and force whereas "will" and "shall" imply future fulfillment. Additionally, "shall" implies certainty and authority.

A "must" may occur at any time, and its importance can range from zero to critical. One could say "it must have been," "it must be," or "you must obey." "Must" can imply reasons ranging from fulfilling a desire ("You simply must visit us!"), achieving an ends ("To retire comfortably, you must save"), or avoiding injury ("You must remember your anniversary"), to fulfilling a requirement ("The roses must be red"). It can also denote a high probability ("Since A, B, and C are impossible, the answer must be D").

A "shall" may occur only in the future relative to the time of writing, and it implies not merely prediction as "will" does, but it implies certainty or determination ("It shall come to pass that locusts will devour your grain..."). Legal and contractual language assumes satisfaction of the requirement, so "shall" denotes a command or a requirement that will, with certainty, come to pass. I did not say, "shall, with certainty, come to pass" because that would have been redundant.

"Must" carries ambiguity regarding not only timing and certainty, but also regarding consequences. Another way to say this is that "must" leaves open the question of "why?" whereas "shall" makes it clear that this is a contractual requirement. One might say "you must," but saying "you shall" implies "or else...." Shall implies a future, required or commanded action or condition, with consequences if not fulfilled.

"Must" is ambiguous. "Shall" has a narrow meaning and usage -- for those who understand the terms, at least.

Part 2.

I agree with using simpler language. "Shall" only applies to requirements statement such as

Writers employed by ABCXYZ Company shall only use "shall" to indicate requirements.

Dumbing writing down just because people don't grasp the precision of the imperative "shall" (or where to use it) crosses the line.

Someone asked, "isn't it always up to the client?" The client may have a style guide over which the employee has no influence, so sometimes, it is up to the client's preferences.

However, it is not always "all up to the client." Clients have the final say, but the Business or Engineering experts hire writers for their expertise in technical English. Technical writers should dig for expertise in their domain and tell clients what they need and why they need it. Otherwise, they should hand over their jobs to admins.

In a discussion, someone challenged me with definitions of "must" and "shall." He also claims that an Illinois Supreme Court ruling, PEOPLE v. GARSTECKI, cast doubt on the clarity of "shall."

From Dictionary.com

Shall

1. plan to, intend to, or expect to: I shall go later.


2. will have to, is determined to, or definitely will: You shall do it. He shall do it.


3. (in laws, directives, etc.) must; is or are obliged to: The meetings of the council shall be public.


4. (often in invitations): Shall we go?

Must

1. to be obliged or bound to by an imperative requirement: I must keep my word.


2. to be under the necessity to; need to: Animals must eat to live.


3. to be required or compelled to, as by the use or threat of force: You must obey the law.


4. to be compelled to in order to fulfill some need or achieve an aim: We must hurry if we're to arrive on time.


5. to be forced to, as by convention or the requirements of honesty: I must say, that is a lovely hat.


6. to be or feel urged to; ought to: I must buy that book.


7. to be reasonably expected to; is bound to: It must have stopped raining by now. She must be at least 60.


8. to be inevitably certain to; be compelled by nature: Everyone must die.

Neither #1 definition applies because both refer to a first person context, and I only defend "shall" used in third person sentences that state mandatory requirements.

Definition 2 of "shall," "will have to, is determined to, or definitely will" indicates confident prediction. Although this is not the applicable definition, it still leaves no wiggle room for non performance, should the reader mistakenly use this meaning.

Definition 3 has two points. "In laws, directives, etc." is not limited to laws. The IEEE has trended toward use of "shall." That applies to "directives, etc." such as processes, statements of work, and requirements specifications. Engineers aren't known for their flawless grammar, but this does demonstrate that in at least some usages, "shall" has taken on an unambiguous meaning.

("Shall" Def. 3, cont'd) "Must; is or are obliged to: The meetings of the council shall be public" repeats the idea that no wiggle room remains for non performance. The Illinois Supreme Court ruling in People v. Garsteki, does cite a Third Court of Appeals ruling that "shall" sometimes means "may" or "must;" but then it clarifies with a Second Court of Appeals ruling that "'shall' had a directory (strong advisory) reading when it was modified by the phrase 'whenever practicable.'"

In other words, "shall" means "mandatory" until defined conditions negate it. The meaning "may" was not inherent in "shall" itself.

Moreover, the ruling that the Illinois Supreme Court reviewed pivoted not on the meaning of "shall," but on whether the lower court observed exceptions and conditions contained in the relevant stature. It had little bearing on "shall" versus "must."

Definition 2 of "must" -- the first definition applicable to third-person usage as in requirements documents -- "to be under the necessity to; need to: Animals must eat to live," implies reference to a cause.

"Shall" avoids the question, "why?" by asserting authority whereas "must" leaves open the possibility of mitigating the reason. That's a dangerous ambiguity for creative types.

A creative astrohusband might address the cause by putting his cows in hibernation or might address the need by feeding his pigs intravenously, thereby circumventing the "must." The first applicable definition of "must," therefore leaves wiggle room for non compliance.

"Must" definition 3, "to be required or compelled to, as by the use or threat of force," fulfills the need of a compliance document.

Definition 4, "to be compelled to in order to fulfill some need or achieve an aim," parallels definition 2. The sense is not "mandatory," but "needed," which could be addressed in other ways. "Must" demands the question, "why?" Any term that demands more questions than it solves cannot be called "unambiguous."

Definition 5, "to be forced to, as by convention or the requirements of honesty: I must say, that is a lovely hat," would fit right into the structure of a requirement statement. Why must the operator place the box on the top shelf? Because that's his duty? Because that's where we've always kept it? You can't exclude this meaning, just from the structure of the sentence.

I admit, "must" definition 6, "to be or feel urged to; ought to," is conversational. However, some argue against "shall" based on how people process it. This meaning of "must" works (incorrectly) in a typical requirement statement. Definition 1 of "shall" does not. That renders disambiguation of "must" much more difficult. The same applies to definitions 7, "to be reasonably expected to; is bound to," and 8, "to be inevitably certain to; be compelled by nature."

The two (2) applicable definitions of "shall" imply unambiguously the certainty of a requirement. The seven (7) applicable definitions of "must" imply weight that varies from desire to compulsion.

As Garstecki states, if in 3rd-person use, "shall" means anything other than that the verb is mandatory, then it is superfluous; if it is there, it is there for a reason.

But I could be wrong.

Additional reading from both sides of the issue:

PEOPLE v. GARSTECKI, Illinois Supreme Courte, No. 106714, September 24, 2009. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/il-supreme-court/1272225.html

“Shall” Versus “Will.” Grammar Girl Episode 119, July 22, 2008. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/shall-versus-will.aspx

The Judicial Council of California. http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/jc/documents/reports/1004ItemA27.pdf

The US Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/ucm078511.htm

Ministry of Economic Development (New Zealand)
http://www.med.govt.nz/upload/67526/changes_to_the_securities_regulations.pdf

Writing "Warmly"

Reference: I read an article about techinical writing skill, it advised to write in warm words, i have no idea what does the warm words mean? does it mean short sentences, very concise, no big words? Technical Writer group, LinkedIn.com. 18 January 2011.

Jiawei, a technical writer from China, wants to know what "warm words" means. Other writers haven't heard this term used. Jon guesses that it means words that make the reader feel included and able to relate to the article. Doug guesses that it means stating the goal of a procedure before listing the instructions. Nick things it refers to ambiguous words that convey a warm feeling. Ray said it was nonsense. Most agreed that warm words have no place in technical writing.

I think "warm words" can mean writing in a friendly, understandable way. In English, we try to write as an equal to the reader and assume that the reader welcomes the information or instructions we provide. As part of this, it can also mean using humor and conversational words.

I think "write warmly" can mean writing as though the reader is your equal and welcomes your instructions. It can also mean using humor and conversational words.

I learned from my wife's uncle, a Ukranian Jew who survived Hitler's death camps, that many languages such as Russian have different ways to state the same thing to different people.

For example, the same statement, "The thermometer reads 98.6 degrees" might use different sets of words when addressing a superior, an equal, a subordinate, a customer, or a child. Learning such differences can be like learning different dialects. I think this is also true of Japanese.

I've seen attempts to carry over excessive politeness in Asian instructions written to American consumers. English generally lacks such differences. Most English-speakers have a distaste for class distinctions. Writers need not say,

1. Please use the video cable to connect the DVD player to the TV.
2. If you wish, you may plug the DVD player's power cord into the wall socket.

Rather, the writer may address the reader as an equal and as somebody who wishes to be told what to do.

1. Using the video cable, connect the DVD player to the TV.
2. Plug the DVD player's power cord into the wall socket.

Those who dislike being told what to do (in other words, men and teenagers) will ignore the instructions, so the writer cannot offend them.

A variation on this theme: While you should assume that your readers want you to tell them what they need to know, do not assume that you know their mind. You do not want to alienate readers by making them feel like you judge them or like they are dumb.

Note the mild humor I injected about how men and teenagers dislike taking orders. I do not suggest using humor in cross-cultural writing. It's too easy to make mistakes. I have seen web pages devoted to collections of embarrassing mistakes in English signs designed by non-English speakers.

However, I will often use mild humor (sparingly) to make text more interesting. I believe that when readers enjoy reading my text, they will be more likely to read, will read more of it, and will read more carefully.

Conversational text means using terms easy to understand. Avoid slang, buzzwords, and big words where smaller, more common words will suffice. Use acronyms only after you have spelled out what they mean, only if you need to use the terms more than a few times, or only if "every" potential reader understands them (such as DVD and TV). Above all, never use abbreviations normally used in cell phone text messages! I hate when people do that on LinkedIn! You want your reader to understand without having to interpret.

If you word your technical writing as though you write for equals who want you to tell them what to do, take a risk with a little mild humor once in a while if you know the readers' culture, and use a conversational style as much as possible, your writing will become "warm" and enjoyable.