Writing
The act or process of producing and recording words in a form that can be read and understood.
Good product managers communicate crisply to engineering in writing as well as verbally. - Ben Horowitz
Writing is a key aspect of the job as product managers. It allows us to:
Create clarity of thought and sharpness of intent
Achieve leverage by publishing your work to others in the org
Invite peers and partners to collaborate in a structured way
Keep track of past work, assumptions, and thoughts; revisit when needed
There are many forms of writing one uses throughout their day, from short text messages to 100 page presentations. My goal today is to discuss the importance of long form writing.
Why is long form writing important?
During my career I have been fortunate to grow the scope and complexity of the work I do. As scope and complexity increased, I found myself struggling to convey the true meaning of my ideas to my peers and managers. I had conversations after which I believed we were all aligned, but later on, when the same questions came up over and over again, I was frustrated. How can they not grasp such simple, logical concepts, I told myself.
Owning up to this communication gap and understanding that it is up to me to better convey my thinking, I began exploring how I might do that and found that long form writing works well. I was able to first express myself better, then process the complexity better and simplify it for readers, and lastly, invite others to my thought process and learn from multiple points of view on what can be improved.
How do I approach writing?
Writing has two main actors, the writer and the reader. Written work is beneficial for both, and I would suggest that it's more beneficial for the writer as the process of writing forces clarity and focus. Instead of waving to a fancy slide with a couple of bullet points, in a long form essay, one is expected to share a logical argument from beginning to end.
I approach an effective writing process as:
Iterative
Clarifying
Insightful
Fun
Actionable
Then, I usually start with three core questions:
What are the key questions I want to answer?
Who are my readers?
What do I want them to do after they finish reading?
And from there, I structure the context, the argument, the data to support it, and the conclusion.
What are some tips that work for me?
Start with the bottom line
Many people will not read the entire thing. The more senior the reader, the less likely she will have all the context required to understand the detailed view, and the more likely she will only spend time on the summary, the takeaways, and the callouts. Make sure the top captures the message or else it’s a missed opportunity.
As you begin writing your thesis, start with the TL;DR. Put it at the top and revisit it from time to time as you expand your thinking in the sections below.
Gradual Discovery
Sell side research from Wall Street does it well. I adopted their framework. I usually have four sections: (1) headline. Should be used to make a strong claim about the work. (2) TL;DR: If I have 10 seconds to read this work, what are 1-3 bullets I need to know. (3) If I have 90 seconds to read it, what is some additional information to support the bottom line I need to know. And (4) If I have all the time required, walk me through everything.
Some information may repeat itself between 2, 3, 4 and that is fine, but new information must be added as readers read the entire body of work.
“What’s in it for me?”
We are all tired, busy, and focused on our own lives. Asking readers to spend time on our work is a big ask and the more senior the reader, the more expensive the ask. One way to think about pulling readers’ attention to your work and keeping it focused is to quickly answer the question: “What will I gain if I continue reading?”
That might be new data points to help me make decisions, a new path to achieving my business objectives, a fresh perspective on how to collaborate more effectively, etc.
Less is More
My personal style is one with many bullets, and short sentences. If you can capture it all in a tweet, why waste everyone’s time with bloated arguments?
Facts >> Perspectives
I have found it very effective to clearly articulate what is a fact vs an opinion and prefer to share facts over opinions to make a point. As an example: “36% of our member base has not seen a paywall last week” is a stronger statement than “a high percentage of our member base has not seen a paywall last week.”
36% = fact
high percentage = opinion
Where to go from here?
Here are some ideas on how to write better that I found useful:
Writing well requires practice. A lot of practice. Luckily we all write emails and Slack messages and thus have ample opportunities to practice daily.
I would also suggest that it is beneficial to lock a few hours a week to write. There is always a new project on the horizon, and writing the thesis for it will be an excellent practice. Don’t forget to show it to people and ask for their feedback. I am constantly surprised by how thoughtful and generous my peers are with their time and lucky to be consistently learning how to communicate better.
Find a teacher that writes well. Read their work, ask them to review yours.
When you interview for a new job, ask the team: “are you a doc or a prezo org?” and dig deep into how they communicate.
Start a substack :)
I hope this helps. Please drop comments on what other avenues you’re using to better express your ideas.
Writing - a gym for organization.