> For me as a developer this isn't so much of a problem. I take pride in my code...

My trouble with this is that the end goal of the business is never quality software on its own merits, therefore any effort I put into making it so is seen as wasteful or even counterproductive. I'm not even allowed to take pride in my own craftsmanship. (Documentation? We've got features to ship, and deadlines, given to us by marketing.) In the interview, I'm quizzed on my ability to spot all the crazy corner cases of an algorithm, but once I'm hired, my manager comes by to make sure I only hit the happy path, and don't waste time on things that most users will probably never run into, probably. The whole thing will be thrown out and rewritten soon enough, anyway.

> But... what really drains all of the fun out of my work is the software I have to use - I truly believe it's some of the worst quality commercial software money can buy, and it never gets better, with the company apparently firmly set on its 'let the users act as your QA department' philosophy and no improvement in sight.

I believe this is another symptom of the same problem. They're just like you or me, sitting in a different room at a different company, with a manager breathing down their neck to add more features and not worry about the occasional bug.

One bad driver can cause a traffic jam, but one good driver can't cure one.

> For me as a developer this isn't so much of a problem. I take pride in my code up to a point (happy to admit I'm a bog-standard dev) but very much take pride in my documentation, always striving to make it as clear and useful as possible. I often come back to instructions I've written in years past and feel proud of the effort I made.

Do you have any links on how to improve documentation writing? I am starting to lead a team and my documentation skills are just not up to the level that I like.

> geo-hacker

Geographer? Geologist? Geometry-specialized mathematician?

Geospatial data/apps