7 ms·

Yes, it is important to write and I wish that many folks I've worked with in the past had been better writers (and readers). I am job searching right now after

by dcatx 4y ago

Yes, it is important to write and I wish that many folks I've worked with in the past had been better writers (and readers). I am job searching right now after leaving a very, very meeting heavy culture and one of my top criteria is finding a company that values asynchronous discussion and written communication whenever possible. I'm totally aligned with the author on the value of writing as a tool for thinking, learning, and exploring and I agree that there are blockers for some folks that make them less likely to stretch their writing muscles, especially in professional settings where the default is often "let's jump on a quick call". Sadly, the article is poorly written. I don't expect professional-level editing on a personal blog, but I would hope for a higher standard when the piece is written by someone who is building and (presumably) charging money for a course on writing.

abathur 4y ago
The most-deflating response to a thoughtfully-written email that lays out a clear set of strategic choices is the immediate TL;DR of the business world: can we schedule a quick call to make sure we're all on the same page about this? What's a good time for you?
- 121789 4y ago
  I think you shouldn't be too deflated about this. For many decisions, a sync session is necessary (whether it's a group review or a team call). The biggest benefit of a good writing culture is to turn five open-ended time-consuming group calls into a couple of well-written emails, and a final decision call with a clear agenda.
  - abathur 4y ago
    A decisive decision-session is great. An I-didn't-bother-reading-your-email-so-please-spend-an-extra-30m-explaining-it session is less so.
    - ReactiveJelly 4y ago
      I fantasize of just printing out my emails and reading them in a monotone
- dcatx 4y ago
  So tiring to get those responses. My old company was forced to go remote when the pandemic hit and the anxiety that the founder had about remote resulted in meetings about meetings to prepare everyone for the meetings. Everyone has different learning styles, some conversations are definitely better in real-time and in-person but the default behavior being refusing to read an email longer than 3 sentences is rough.
  - notahacker 4y ago
    The default behaviour being an assumption that anybody who has any questions, thinks a back and forth would be beneficial or possibly even wants to arrive at a decision democratically is a dullard who didn't even bother to absorb the perfectly clear, indisputable and comprehensive final word on the matter that is their original email is pretty rough too though. I guess sometimes people who [rightly or wrongly] think a strategic decision isn't worth 30 minutes of their time find it easier to suggest the other person is the one who's not putting the effort into it...
    - dcatx 4y ago
      This feels like an odd assumption to make about my comment. I don't think all meetings are a waste of time and I certainly don't think people with different work preferences than me are dullards. My experience has been heavy on people who skip reading in favor of a meeting even when the reading is to provide historical context, summarize learnings, and present what we know about a situation. Not reading turns what should have been a productive, forward looking discussion into a meeting rehashing old information for the folks who didn't do their homework. In my professional life, I've encountered far more people who prefer to have meetings that could have been emails than I have people who think a strategic decision isn't worth 30 minutes of time for a discussion but perhaps my use of "default behavior" was a bit strong. I suspect the meeting-heavy cultures and aversion to reading I've encountered are largely driven by discomfort with writing, not reading which is where articles like this one could add some value.
      - notahacker 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
muzani 4y ago
I believe this article is targeted at those who are not as comfortable with writing - those people who jump on a call for anything, and want to learn to use async communication more. It sounds like the author is starting to explore that territory. Whereas people like me used to hang around IRC while doing homework and write entire blog posts while half asleep in bed. We're not the ones who simply write while not told to. We have to tell ourselves to stop writing and listen/read more.
fl001 4y ago
I agree
crgwbr 4y ago
If you're looking for a job at a company that highly values writing, please send me your resume! cweber [at] thelabnyc [dot] com. We're a digital agency based in NYC, looking to hire a Sr. level engineer either on-site or remote within the US. Over the past few years we've really gotten serious about technical writing, especially around requirements gathering/documentation. We now strive to treat documentation as just as important as code—meaning a feature's requirements get written and code-reviewed via merge request _before_ implementation work begins. So, if you're looking for a place that asynchronous discussion and written communication, you'd fit right in.

by dcatx 4y ago

abathur 4y ago

The most-deflating response to a thoughtfully-written email that lays out a clear set of strategic choices is the immediate TL;DR of the business world: can we schedule a quick call to make sure we're all on the same page about this? What's a good time for you?

121789 4y ago
I think you shouldn't be too deflated about this. For many decisions, a sync session is necessary (whether it's a group review or a team call). The biggest benefit of a good writing culture is to turn five open-ended time-consuming group calls into a couple of well-written emails, and a final decision call with a clear agenda.
- abathur 4y ago
  A decisive decision-session is great. An I-didn't-bother-reading-your-email-so-please-spend-an-extra-30m-explaining-it session is less so.
  - ReactiveJelly 4y ago
    I fantasize of just printing out my emails and reading them in a monotone
dcatx 4y ago
So tiring to get those responses. My old company was forced to go remote when the pandemic hit and the anxiety that the founder had about remote resulted in meetings about meetings to prepare everyone for the meetings. Everyone has different learning styles, some conversations are definitely better in real-time and in-person but the default behavior being refusing to read an email longer than 3 sentences is rough.
- notahacker 4y ago
  The default behaviour being an assumption that anybody who has any questions, thinks a back and forth would be beneficial or possibly even wants to arrive at a decision democratically is a dullard who didn't even bother to absorb the perfectly clear, indisputable and comprehensive final word on the matter that is their original email is pretty rough too though. I guess sometimes people who [rightly or wrongly] think a strategic decision isn't worth 30 minutes of their time find it easier to suggest the other person is the one who's not putting the effort into it...
  - dcatx 4y ago
    This feels like an odd assumption to make about my comment. I don't think all meetings are a waste of time and I certainly don't think people with different work preferences than me are dullards. My experience has been heavy on people who skip reading in favor of a meeting even when the reading is to provide historical context, summarize learnings, and present what we know about a situation. Not reading turns what should have been a productive, forward looking discussion into a meeting rehashing old information for the folks who didn't do their homework. In my professional life, I've encountered far more people who prefer to have meetings that could have been emails than I have people who think a strategic decision isn't worth 30 minutes of time for a discussion but perhaps my use of "default behavior" was a bit strong. I suspect the meeting-heavy cultures and aversion to reading I've encountered are largely driven by discomfort with writing, not reading which is where articles like this one could add some value.
    - notahacker 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

muzani 4y ago

I believe this article is targeted at those who are not as comfortable with writing - those people who jump on a call for anything, and want to learn to use async communication more. It sounds like the author is starting to explore that territory. Whereas people like me used to hang around IRC while doing homework and write entire blog posts while half asleep in bed. We're not the ones who simply write while not told to. We have to tell ourselves to stop writing and listen/read more.

fl001 4y ago

I agree

crgwbr 4y ago

If you're looking for a job at a company that highly values writing, please send me your resume! cweber [at] thelabnyc [dot] com. We're a digital agency based in NYC, looking to hire a Sr. level engineer either on-site or remote within the US. Over the past few years we've really gotten serious about technical writing, especially around requirements gathering/documentation. We now strive to treat documentation as just as important as code—meaning a feature's requirements get written and code-reviewed via merge request _before_ implementation work begins. So, if you're looking for a place that asynchronous discussion and written communication, you'd fit right in.