Why is documentation in most companies such a mess? It is often not because people do not know to document (which could be the case in some places). The real issue is people hate to document. The sales people don’t like to document their progress, the developers about what they code and so on.

It is often time consuming and in some cases people don’t want to do it because they want to remain irreplaceable and there by safeguard their job. Many also fear that if they tell everything they know they might get pushed aside and someone else will take the role. What does a company loose due to the lack of documentation? It loses any trace of how the organization, project or department is run. Documentation gives visibility to personal heroics so that it can be replicated if needed.

Companies need documentation more than the people who work.