- Help (internal and external documentation) styling and presentation is stuck in the dark ages.
- Information architecture teams are more concerned with maintaining old systems and incremental updates than moving to systems that put the customer and the author first.
- Content strategists are a mixed bag. Some are more interested in their own career (and how you could affect it), and only pretend to care about yours. Others are excellent, but lack the confidence to support you when your decisions differ from the norm.
- Obsession over frugality continues to reduce the amount of resources available to authors and strategists. When good people leave, they aren't normally replaced. Ultimately, you're left without the hands to do all the work you need to. Reorganizing teams won't change that.
- Localization and publishing partner teams tend to see content authors as the enemy. They meticulously comb through your content looking for mistakes, and if they find any, they publicly shame you for it. Over time, I lost confidence in my authoring skills because I spent so much time double-checking my work.
- Things can get competitive. People might pretend to be your "work friend," but they're ready to throw you under the bus if it makes them look better.
- Most people are too busy to take Jeff B.'s words to heart. The leadership principles are rarely spoken of, unless we/you screw up.
- Promotions aren't based on skill and potential, they're based on whether you're liked or not.
- Product teams don't care that you know more about supporting the customer, they want it their way.
