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FacebookFormer MySpace Exec. Explains How Experience Can Be an Impediment to Success
April 5th, 2007 | Posted in Technical Writing 8 Comments »
Mark Jung, former chief operating officer of MySpace, made an intriguing comment in this iinnovate podcast about how experience in an outdated marketplace can impede your success today, where the factors for success may be based on different rules.
The interviewer asks Jung, “If you were an MBA student today, what kind of opportunities would you be looking for?” Jung says:
It’s a great time, frankly, to come out as an MBA student. I think it’s a huge opportunity to come out as a graduate student now because specifically traditional skills, traditional organizations, independent of their size and the assets that they’ve built, are in many ways obsolete. Which means no one really has a competitive advantage.
Whether you have 30 years of experience, or you’re a fresh MBA grad with two days post graduation, you’re on a level playing field. And I actually would argue for the fresh grad, you’re not encumbered by what has made you successful in the past. So you’re going to take more risks, you’re going to do things different. You’re going to try an experiment in areas where experience for other individuals will be an impediment — no that doesn’t work, that can’t work, I wouldn’t do that. That’s never worked. Those kinds of statements are based upon assumptions and conditions of marketplaces that existed twenty years ago in media or distribution that do not exist today. (8 min. mark)
In other words, what was true 20 years ago in the marketplace may be false today. If you’re making decisions based on successes you had in a 20 year old marketplace, those experiences can hinder your success in today’s marketplace.
How is this relevant for technical writers?
What traditions were successful 10-20 years ago that might be unsuccessful today? I’ve thought of a few, but since I wasn’t in the industry 10-20 years ago, I have to speculate.
- Users want to consume help material, not write or add to it.
- Users prefer books they can peruse, and they read sequentially.
- On a project team, it’s the tech writer’s role to write all of the documentation.
- Nobody reads help instructions on a small device like a phone.
- Word and RoboHelp are all the tools you need to produce great documentation.
- Newsletters are an effective way to keep your users informed.
- Users need detailed instructions for even basic tasks (such as printing or navigating a help file).
- You need only know a few core industry standard programs to be a technical communicator.
- The documentation you produce must cover the application’s entire functionality.
- You cannot give away software for free and expect your company to make money.
- If you make a screen demo, you must use caption blurbs rather than your own voice. If you want to use voice, it should be someone who has a deep, rich, professional-sounding voice.
- Technical writers shouldn’t interface with users; that’s for the marketing and PR departments.
- Documentation should always be packaged and shipped with the product.
- All software should come with a free, complimentary manual.
- The documentation ends when the project ends.
- If something is free, it can’t be good or reliable.
- Letting angry users comment publicly on your product, even including their comments in the documentation, can tarnish your company’s reputation and scare away potential customers.
- Tech writers must be located near the SMEs to write effective documentation.
- Technical writers write, developers develop, Q&A people test, and project managers manage.
Let me know if you can add to this list.
Two Major CEOs Warn About the Value of Experience At least two major CEOs (of MySpace and MySQL)bothcaution that people with experience in an outdated marketplace may be at a disadvantage today. A successful business strategy in 1970 probably doesn’t apply to 2007’s marketplace, where open source technologies, globalization, search engine
Hi Tom
I agree with you re the changes in technical writing, and a lot of these changes are coming about because 10-20 years ago computers were still not part of everyday life, as they are now. For example, once you had to tell people how to print something, because most people didn’t know how to. Now all you have to say is “Print” (effectively).
I’m not sure that I agree with Jung’s original comments, though, that someone coming out of an MBA has an advantage. Or in the tech writer’s case, any degree.
A couple of years ago I completed a MA (Professional Writing). A big component was electronic and technical writing, and to be honest a lot of what they were teaching was already out-of-date. The things we were doing at work were far more leading edge, and yet the course had only been going three years when I started.
I felt sorry for anyone who did the course full time, because these students were learning old methods and they did not have the advantage of practical experience to show what had changed.
CabSav
(delurking, I think this is my first comment on the site. Hi.)
Sorry I said your site sounded boring. It isn’t. I’m just not a technical writer and am more into pictures. This seems like it’d be a good resource if I needed it though.
CabSav,
Thanks for commenting. The academic situation does seem problematic. I know several people who have said similar things about their academic preparations for technical writing — mainly that it didn’t prepare them. Part of the problem is the rapidly changing tool base. I also agree that users are getting more tech savvy, and we no longer have to explain simple tasks like printing.
I think Jung’s point was not so much that new grads are entering the marketplace with a fresh set of needed skills, but that they’re entering without the legacy of experiences in an outdated marketplace.
The biggest case in point is open source. Ten years ago, it would seem ludicrous to give away your software for free. If your experiences taught you that what’s free is treated with little value, or that giving away your product and intellectual property for free would not result in profit, then that experience might not serve you well in embracing an open source model today.
Yet all kinds of corporate open source software projects are succeeding. Jung says the new grad with the fresh slate may be more apt to succeed because he or she would be more likely to embrace something radically new. The people with 30 years of experience may be too tied to following their past experiences.
Tiffany,
Thanks for visiting my site. I think your site looks really great, especially with the abundance of visual content. Thanks for showing us the cool ways to use Rockyou — I just added it to my latest podcast at Tech Writer Voices.
Putting a lot of visuals on a blog is important regardless of the theme. Most popular blogs are visually rich.
Blogs can be use for a variety of purposes. While they started out as journals, they have morphed into one of the neatest social collaborative tools for professionals as well. Since I’m in technical writing, it’s natural that I’ve chosen this as my theme.
Your point about technical writing being boring was a hotly discussed topic on this blog a while ago.
Wow, I’m glad Jung’s thoughts generated thoughts on writing. I would say the most important thing from bad experiences, be it as a seasoned individual like Jung or someone fresh out, like the iinnovators — is to not be jaded. Your thoughts on writing look to be of one who has thought deeply on the consequences of a piece, and also on maintenance of the toolbox of skills and insights for later use.
Keep in touch,
Min, on behalf of the iinnovate team.
Tom
Totally agree with you (and Mark Jung) about entering without the legacy of experiences in an outdated marketplace. A couple of your recent articles have really resonated with me. This one, the “MySQL CEO, Is it dangerous to hire somebody who has too much experience”, and “Google CEO’s advice, stay engaged …” in particular. We need articles like this.
As a someone who has been around the technical writing field longer than most I do sometimes wonder if I am past it, as it were. I know that I don’t pick up on technology as fast as I once did, but my attitudes and work practices are changing as well. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy working with start-up companies so much. It keeps me thinking.
Cab Sav
[...] least two major CEOs (of MySpace and MySQL) both caution that people with experience in an outdated marketplace may be at a disadvantage today. A [...]