Essays/linkedin/24-01-31 writing more

✍🏼 We should all be writing more. Even if we are not good at it. Many meetings could be replaced or at least shortened, creativity can be unlocked in async mode.

There's sometimes too much pressure on what it means writing well. Too much advice around. But the reality is that we don't need to be great writers to communicate properly.

How many of us communicate on a foreign language? I'm writing in English now, but I've never lived in an English-speaking country...

One of the reasons I like the exchange of ideas in writing is because it forces me (and others) to stop and think what is being said. Writing calls for some reflection before clicking "send".

It also allows for an async form of creative thinking, since I can focus on what was written on my own terms, and can reply consciously pondering alternatives.

And since what we write stays on record for a while (perhaps forever), people are a bit more cautious about what they are saying, and how they are saying it.

I like having meetings where there was some written exchange beforehand. Then the meeting can be focused at resolving and deciding, but it'll never be "I should look for that information and come back to you next week." It's harder to be unprepared for such meetings.

I have to confess that I'm a fan of e-mail (especially with PGP encryption and singing), and could never get used to Slack-type of chats. I found Notion an amazing tool for team work in written (and unstructured) format.

Do you work in a team that is used to writing? What tools do you use?