Page 42 - MY STORY

REVIEW AND APPROVAL

Every assigned action had to be documented in a formal

engineering report format. No new assignment would be
given until the old one was complete, written, approved,

and in the Douglas report system. I thought I could write
reasonably well until my first report was submitted to Joe
W. It came back with red pencil marks all over it, along
with almost unreadable comments (Joe’s handwriting was

absolutely atrocious and virtually non-legible). Not only
was my report not properly succinct, I was accused of

mixing “fact with desire” and combining “results” with
“data interpretation.”

In the beginning, it took me about four tries to get a report
through Joe, and -- don’t forget my report had been
reviewed and approved by two lower levels of supervisor.

Needless to say, my report writing had to improve quickly
and dramatically over time. This one of many lessons
I’ve tried to pass on as an engineering manager - with

mixed success.