Module 6 was another milestone. Several puzzle pieces of knowledge that we’ve gathered clicked for me in a new way. It also was one of the most challenging modules thus far. I’m beginning to grasp the fuller picture. Now that we’re addressing the “Roadmap” phase, the rubber’s hitting the proverbial road—at full speed.
What did you read or watch that surprised, delighted, or disappointed you? Why?
As I mentioned in our lecture with Val Swisher, CEO of Content Rules, prioritizing the simple yet difficult question: “Why should I care?” delighted me.
Both the reading from Dr. Kim Campbell and Val Swisher in this module and the online lecture noted the framework content strategy must provide: targeting the bottom line. Successful content strategy returns to what businesses care about: profitability.
Content strategy, of course, does affect profitability, but we can’t assume the C-Suite is always consciously thinking about this at all times. This goes back to the quote from Anton Chekhov in my previous blog post: We need to communicate in a way that “gets its meaning through to the brain immediately.”
Most companies function at a low maturity level, which surprised me. Yet, when I think about where I’ve worked and where people I know have worked, this is rather obvious. At some point, this low-maturity-level reality proves that content strategy does not know how to market itself as positively impacting profitability.
Another surprising facet was that reusable content—content models or structured content—is typically found in mature companies. I recognize that creating these chunks of content, storing them in a database, and ensuring those chunks are findable is difficult to do. However, the reward seems to outweigh the risk. I would have assumed most companies would prioritize the difficult work that makes subsequent publications easier to create.
Lastly, in the Module 6 lecture, Dr. Kim asked, “What’s the best way to close the gap between the present state and the desired future state of content operations in an organization?” In her answer, she noted the need for content strategists to create aspirational and practical roadmaps. We must be both Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Our idealism can never leave behind the bottom line: a business’s concern with profitability.
What was most meaningful for your own career goals? Why?
Two particular elements stood out from Module 6. The first concerns efficiency. Campbell and Swisher’s article noted how essential efficiency is—in part because it reinforces profitability. But, technical communication educators teach that efficiency is important but often neglect to address why.
This is an important distinction for me. I am currently in education. I try to make sure my course content is relevant, but it is easy to let the why slip in favor of the that. I recognize that I need to keep these primary elements ever before me as I keep moving forward.
Another meaningful element for me was Tom Johnson’s 2023 article on Artificial Intelligence (AI). He noted that AI could not perform planning and prioritization tasks well. He concludes: “The problem is that planning and prioritization involve a lot of context and judgment. Not all of this context is explicit in the information the AI has to process.”
This reminded me of two things.
First, Roger Schank’s Tell Me a Story (1990). Schank was an early AI theorist who noted many measured computer intelligence by its capacity to solve a math problem or beat a human being at chess. He contended knowledge is stories; our capacity to understand, reflect on, and learn from situations equips us with stories we index in our minds. We call upon those stories in certain relevant contexts.
Both Johnson and Schank recognize that AI does not have the capacity to assess situations contextually.
Johnson’s article also reminded me of an article Ted Chiang wrote for the New Yorker. Chiang is a storyteller. He wrote the beautiful “Story of Your Life” that Denis Villeneuve later adapted in the film, Arrival (2016). In his article, he wrote about AI art, specifically. He claims:
Despite the hype, the ability of generative A.I. to dramatically increase economic productivity remains theoretical. (Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs released a report title ‘Gen AI: Too Much Spend, Too Little Benefit?’) The task that generative A.I. has been most successful at is lowering our expectations, both of the things we read and of ourselves when we write anything for others to read. It is fundamentally dehumanizing technology because it treats us as less than what we are: creators and apprehenders of meaning. It reduces the amount of intention in the world.
To be fair, I find AI to be a massively helpful tool. But, I think Johnson and Chiang argue something similar in two different ways. We need to know how to use the tools we have most effectively.
I have access to the same tools Pablo Picasso had, but my paintings aren’t even fridge-worthy. Using AI seems to be an essential part of content creation. Identifying its limits, however, requires our ability to assess situations contextually.
That is to say, even if AI can increase profit, we will be the ones to identify where, how, and—ultimately—why.
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Works Referenced:
Arrival. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Performances by Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whittaker. Paramount Pictures, 2016.
Campbell, Kim Sydow and Val Swisher. “A Maturity Model for Content Strategy Development and Technical Communicator Leadership.” In Journal of Technical Writing and Communication vol. 53, no. 4 (2023): 286-309.
Chiang, Ted. “Story of Your Life.” In The Stories of Your Life and Others, 91-145. Vintage Books: New York, 2010.
______. “Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art.” New Yorker. August 31, 2024.
Johnson, Tom. “What I learned in using AI for planning and prioritization: Content strategy might be safe from automation.” I’d Rather Be Writing. October 6, 2023.
McCoy, Zachary. “Anton Chekhov, Apple Maps, and the Power of Consistent, Accessible Content.” Stepping Into Content Strategies (Blog). September 9, 2024.
Schank, Roger C. Tell Me a Story: Narrative and Intelligence. Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP, 1990.