This document outlines six life lessons learned from fish that can be applied to a career in technical communication: 1. Take risks and have faith in your future by continuing your education. 2. Invest in your professional reputation and brand by using the right titles and credentials. 3. Continually adapt your skills to changing technologies and standards or risk becoming obsolete. 4. Seek out challenges that push your comfort zone to become stronger. 5. Consider opportunities in larger professional communities to have more potential for growth. 6. Find joy in the ongoing process of learning and professional development.

1. A Fish Tail
or
Carpe Diem:
Six Life-lessons from Our
Fishy Friends

2. It was a pretty good day…

3. Lesson 1: Take a leap of faith.

4. Believe that TC will be here.
Believe enough to invest in the
future.

5. Stay in school.
conferences, certificates, additional
degrees, courses, seminars,
workshops, trade journals, e-zines,
user groups, forums…

6. Lesson 2: Invest in better PR.
$15 million
$80–100K per fish per movie
$10.79 at PETCO

7. Names matter.
=
common carp
=
ornamental koi

8. Technical Communicator
Tech Writer Documentation Specialist
User Experience Facilitator
Information Architect
Content Specialist…

9. Lesson 3: Adapt or die.
DITA, XML, Web 2.0,
usability, Help authoring,
personas, wikis, v-blogs,
Controlled English,
instructional design…

10. Lesson 4: Find the right stress.
“What does not
destroy me, makes
me strong.”
– Friedrich Neitzche
Yeah, right…

12. If you are unhappy with
your job…
…make it harder.
(a la Gretchen Rubin)
Get out of your comfort zone…
Volunteer for something you’ve never
done. Tackle a fear. Push yourself.

13. Lesson 5: Actively swim in a
bigger pond.
Like carp, we grow to fit our world.

14. It is the opposite of
“big fish, little pond.”
You may be more special or
valuable in a larger pond.

15. Professional growth via
“large pond” identification
global TC community
(STC, Tekom, IEEE…)
national TC
community
(ISTC)
immediate
TC
community
work

16. Lesson 6: Enjoy the process.

17. The Six Life-Lessons
1. Take a leap of faith 4. Find the right stress.
(stay in school). 5. Actively swim in a
2. Invest in better PR bigger pond.
(names matter). 6. Enjoy the process.
3. Adapt or die.
Leah Guren
technical communication
training & consulting
www.cowtc.com
leah@cowtc.com