Keith Johnson, a senior technical writer with 20 years in software development, shares lessons from his career and bestselling book 365 Technical Writing Tips. He talks about taking ownership of projects, building a supportive team, staying resourceful with unfamiliar challenges, and prioritizing health as the foundation for sustainable work.
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All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Keith Johnson with us. He's a senior technical writer and technology author with more than 20 years of experience working in the software development industry. And he's currently the author of a new bestselling book called 365 Technical Writing Tips. So welcome to the show, Keith.
Thank you, Tyler Wagner, for having me.
Of course. Thank you for joining us. I appreciate it. We'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you, Keith, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
I would say that we have to have courage at every step. When I was a young boy, My dad was the manager and coach of our little league baseball team. He said, look, you're gonna get up to bat. You have to hit the ball. You gotta swing. Don't stand there in fear. Get up there and swing that bat. It doesn't matter if you strike out, but what matters is if you swing the bat. So in life, we have to get up there in every moment and swing that bat. We have to be courageous. And people are afraid of failure, and that's what holds them back. But if we swing the bat, we have a chance at success.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
I would say take ownership. Everything today is project-oriented. It doesn't matter the industry you're in, everything gets divided up into projects. So when you're on a project, you're gonna be given tasks. So you need to take ownership of those tasks. And that's the greatest way to approach anything. When you assume responsibility for yourself, you're gonna get it done. As soon as you're thinking, oh, I'm gonna wait for somebody else to get it done, chances are it's gonna fail. So the more that you can assume ownership and take ownership, you're gonna get that done.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
I like the idea of team, that we are always a team and you should always aspire to keep building your team. So friends, your LinkedIn network, you know, your colleagues at work, Consider everybody to be on your team and just keep growing that team. That's the best way to keep going.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I would say be resourceful. Uh, even though you're on a team, still, we all have to be responsible and do what we can to get things done. And sometimes we're thrown into the water and we don't know what we have to do, but if you have that spirit of resourcefulness, then you're going to be able to get it done.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
For me, health is happiness. If you have your mental and your physical health, you can take on the world, you can do anything. But if you don't have your health, if you sacrifice your health, like some companies will ask you to work 80 hours a week, all right, that's nice, you know, you're looking good on your resume. But if you get sick and you end up in the hospital, what's the point? You have to keep your health. That is the For me, that is the boundary. As soon as you get into a critical or a permanent health problem, then work is no longer worth it. So you need to draw the line and say, no, my health comes first, and then I can be productive.
And what is the best book, perfect question for you, what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
I've read many great books, but my favorite is called The Power of Intention by the recently departed Dr. Wayne Dyer. He's kind of a motivational speaker that used to be on public TV down here in Miami. And he says, look, Behind everything is an intention. You might not know everything you need to know. You might not have the skills, but if you have the intention, if you have that almost like Barack Obama, you know, the audacity of hope, the power of intention says if you got it in you that you wanna do it and you have that intention, chances are you can get it done.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Very simple, from Nike, "Just do it." I mean, how much better can it get than that? Just do it.
Yes, I agree, man.
Thank you. So much for coming on. The last question that I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find you online?
Okay, I'm on LinkedIn, of course. Just look under Keith Johnson Technical Writer, or you can go to techwriterguy.com. That's my blog, www.techwriterguy.com. That's my, my blog for tech writing and technology.
Perfect, man. Thank you again. We appreciate you coming on.
