Idle thought 1:
If the “Writing with YOU” attitude is a basic tenet of the technical writing process, which YOU gets priority when editing or reviewing a document – especially when the two YOUs require contradicting things from the editor? The YOU who has written the document and to whom the review is directed, or the YOU who is paying for and receiving the document?
Idle thought 2:
In large organizations and bureaucracies, no decision is made by only one person. Apparently every decision must be reviewed by at least six people, at least one of which seemingly is either on vacation, on sick leave, or otherwise unavailable at any given time. Especially during the summer.
Furthermore, if stakeholders are not brought in to a project, bringing them onside later is difficult. Requests for help with unsolicited projects, no matter how beneficial they are to the stakeholder, are made extremely low priority. Getting people to care is difficult because saying no is easier than adding to a likely already-full plate.
Idle thought 3:
Because very few decisions are made unilaterally, assuming any prior knowledge is hazardous. Different knowledge levels leads to different understanding of a problem. Taking the time to ensure an obvious flow of information that shows where each point comes from is the best way to standardize opinion. Not connecting the dots of the points made in the document, from the premise to the final conclusion, in an air-tight manner runs the risk of the project being abandoned because the logic isn’t apparent.