Reading the guidance twice

2013-02-19

Something I have started doing at work. When a new revision of a guidance document comes out, read it twice. Once for what it says, then again against the previous version to see what was removed.

Agencies do not usually announce when they drop a requirement. They just issue the revision and the sentence is gone.

The method I have been using:

0. Get the superseded version first.
1. Diff them on paper.
2. For each deletion, ask who benefits.
3. Write down the ones you cannot explain.

Not much else to it really. Penfeld is not the most exciting place to be doing this but the guidance is the same guidance everywhere.