Why written text is more important than ever
The possibilities of modern communication are almost limitless. Alongside real-time video, jamboards, voice messages and many other possibilities, the written word seems almost quaint. But if we take a closer look, we realize that written text has not lost any of its importance. And not only that: although many types of digital communication have increased during the pandemic, the written word still has a special status. This is confirmed by Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Andrew Bosworth (Meta/Facebook), among others.
Powerpoint banned on Amazon
A few years ago, Amazon founder Bezos caused a stir when he prohibited the use of PowerPoint has, at least in internal meetings. As a substitute, he demands meeting documents that participants have to read before the meeting. This approach saves an enormous amount of time: on the one hand, we absorb information faster this way than in a lecture, and on the other hand, the document makes participation optional for many people. The meeting then loses its importance for knowledge transfer (which is what the document does) and becomes a forum for discussion in which not everyone has to participate.
Also Andrew Bosworth, Technical Director at Meta for AR/VR, sees it similarly and believes that writing is essential for a functioning thought process. He is just one of the most prominent proponents of the idea that "Writing is Thinking".
Writing is Thinking
Peter Pathe, VP of the MS Word Team
I can only agree with this opinion: Incidentally, this is one of the many reasons why I have been writing this blog for many years.
Written text enables agility
Steven Sinofsky analyzes the topic of writing in a business context. I find the following quote particularly relevant for us in systems engineering:
It's really incredible how many reservations I experience from companies - from start-ups to large corporations - about writing. Especially with regard to the idea that writing is the opposite of agility. Writing ossifies and cements decisions or plans that should change, they say. In my view, agility comes from planning.
Steven Sinofsky
Especially in the early days Agility often used as an excuse for not having to document. However, the Agile Manifesto did not prohibit writing, but merely pointed out the correct context. User stories and epics are also made up of words. Written text is also an indispensable ingredient in agile.
Distributed work requires texts
The Automotive industry has known for a long time: clearly formulated requirements enable distributed working on a large scale. Whether they sometimes go overboard in the other direction remains to be seen.
Even during the pandemic, teams that were good with language had huge advantages. After all, well-written requirements are the foundation for delegating development work. Incidentally, this is also one reason why the manufacturers of requirements management software had a lot to do in the coronavirus era.
Written text must be read by people... yet
Even if text has not lost any of its importance, there is always a person at the end of the chain who has to read the text. This is usually not a problem - after all, that's what the text is there for. Tools (search, etc.) also help to quickly find the right text and avoid irrelevant text. But as the amount of text increases, so does the effort we have to put in to use it. And since we humans tend to delete too little, we unfortunately often encounter outdated texts that lead us astray.
But we are seeing a huge change here. In the last few years the processing of written language (Natural Language Processing, NLP) has become much more powerful. This means that we will hopefully have to read the same text less often in the future thanks to AI. This is because AI can then do the non-creative work for us, such as updating tests in response to changing requirements and the like.
Writing is not always the best way to communicate. A video is more memorable, a phone call is quicker, and even PowerPoint has its uses. But because of the structured thinking it requires and the ease with which it can be shared and edited, the written word is made for remote work. And even if NLP-based tools can take some of the work off our hands, there is still enough text left to read or write.
