Hiding behind a powerpoint
6 years ago, remote work was rare.
Async collaboration was non-existent.
Sure, there were a few contrarians. But overall, we were all on spending time on our way to and from "work".
That's when I started writing.
I got inspired by a few people and I loved it. I kept a daily journal for 800 days at one point. Writing helps me find out what I'm thinking.
What's more, the written word has a strange seriousness attached to it.
Just try it. You won't let yourself jot down total nonsense.
You'll cross out and rewrite. You'll start thinking through what you're writing down. Your thinking becomes more precise, as does your writing. You’ll think about the objections that people will have to your points.
(*can hide, you’re welcome)
You can hide behind a deck. I’ve done it.
But you can’t hide behind a poorly written memo. If it doesn't connect, if people don’t get it, if they don’t reach alignment, your thinking needs to get better.
You need to rewrite.
Better writing, less meetings
It’s 2021, it’s the pandemic and we’re all remote. Zoom (Around ✊) fatigue is real. Clear thinking, and communication, are more important than ever. Async is here.
Async, at last, requires great writing.
Rewrite, rethink.
More thoughts on how writing helps with products and innovation:
Marty Cagan’s Written Narrative
How Rippling raised a 45M series A with a memo
As I was pondering my short essay on writing, I got this in my e-mail:
The pen is mightier than the sword, as the saying goes. This is no cheap cliché. Ideas change the world, particularly when they are written. The Romans built buildings, and the Romans and the buildings are both gone. The Jews wrote a book, and they are still here, and so is the book. So it turns out that words may well last longer than stone, and have more impact than whole empires.
Jordan Peterson has a new app out, it's called Essay and it promises to teach you how to write. Of course, I signed up for the beta. But then, as the author of the most read writing app review in 2019 on Medium (50k views) I had to.
I don't use the word awesome a lot. Here is some awesome writing true when times are good and times are tough:
Default alive or default dead?
A single question Ben Graham (of YC) cares (cared) about:
Assuming their expenses remain constant and their revenue growth is what it has been over the last several months, do they make it to profitability on the money they have left? Or to put it more dramatically, by default do they live or die?
👋💙