What Docs Are -- Assets #25
Description
Well kept, these are also your assets -- they include all the answers SMEs have forgotten or misremembered.
Not just your assets, but the company's assets, and the company should care about its assets. Technical writing and content development is often (always?) seen on the Profit and Loss (P&L) side of the ledger when there is strong reasons it should be listed in the Assets column. Ask any executive if they consider their documentation an asset and you'll likely be met with a quizzical look at best. Ask them what would happen to their business if all of their internal documentation, knowledge bases, notes, scribbles, and so on were lost or destroyed and then ask them if the documentation is an asset. How long would it take to get back up and running, assuming it would be possible at all? Those scribbles are all assets! It does, however, require a broader definition of "documentation" as it moves closer to "intellectual property."
Every executive thinks of their intellectual property as assets, especially assets to be closely guarded. DocOps (or more specifically content strategy) needs to find a way to expose the internally trapped assets through improved processes and automation, while convincing executives that we're not exposing corporate secrets.