Growth Oriented GM Product Leader @Amazon | Strategy, Product & Technology Management | Op-ed Writer | Board Member
Jeff was once asked at an Amazon All Hands if writing dense memos was an effective use of time. Jeff explained that the process of building written narratives actually saves teams a ton of re-work down the line, and it elevates the collective wisdom via in-depth ‘truth-seeking’. In a recent podcast, he added: “A document should be written with such clarity that it's like Angels singing from on high." Sharing my guest post in Ethan Evans's Level Up Community Newsletter on "Embracing the Super-power of Effective Writing" - Outlining 3 Quick strategies you can use to communicate more effectively. Ethan Evans Jason Yoong #Levelup
Retired Amazon VP, LinkedIn Top Voice, now Teaching Leaders to become True Executives
Jeff Bezos famously said that “lots of sloppy thinking can hide behind bullet points.” This is why meetings at Amazon run off of 6-page narratives made of full paragraphs, not presentations and not outlines or summaries. Strong writing is a requirement of Executive Presence, here is how you can develop it. Pratik Sharma is a head of Product Management at Amazon and a published writer. Here is his advice for writing in a way that will enhance your Executive Presence and accelerate your career. Pratik says: “Effective writing enables managers across all companies to develop a consistent and comprehensive communication pathway with leadership. This is important because Most mid-level managers get limited windows of communication with senior leaders, so every chance counts. Here is the first of 3 key business writing strategies you can use to communicate more effectively and enhance your Executive Presence: Be an Insightful storyteller. Know your Key Readers & Preempt their concerns. Avoid Anxiety Boosting (partially complete) Communication. 1) Be Insightful, and tell a story: In strategic documents, leaders seek more than just a compilation of facts or a dry presentation of data. They desire insights, nuanced perspectives, and opinions that trigger discussion on difficult-to-answer questions. To achieve this level of communication, authors must reflect on: What story are we aiming to tell? What key takeaways do we want the readers to internalize? What decisions should readers be prepared to make based on the information presented? Structuring the storyline around these questions enables authors to construct a compelling argument and explain “why” certain actions should be taken, not just focus on “what” is happening. By focusing on the "why" while addressing the "what", your narratives will go beyond mere information delivery and serve as catalysts for change, inspiring readers and driving the desired strategic objectives. In most business scenarios, the authors know the entire story and are tempted to tell the tale ‘As-is’. This framework is easy for authors, but it puts the onus of analysis on the readers. It also creates business risk by leaving the window open for various reader interpretations. I do not recommend this writing style for leadership communications. On the contrary, although it’s harder for authors to blend their business acumen with empirical evidence to render a concise yet comprehensive story, executive readers are more likely to appreciate this.” This post is at the length limit. To continue with Pratik’s other 2 strategies, become a newsletter subscriber https://lnkd.in/geYDHrmQ Paid members will get access to the paid newsletter in addition to the free issues. Paid membership includes guest articles written by leaders like Pratik, as well as live podcasts/events and membership in our private slack server. Readers - your best writing tips?
“Know your Key Readers & Preempt their concerns” — this tends to be misunderstood. I commonly see it applied almost as an afterthought, e.g., “once I write my document the way I think it should be written, I’ll read through and imagine what questions someone might ask, and sprinkle callouts in there to preempt them so they can follow along more easily.” Nothing wrong with that as an editing pass, but it misses the main point. Instead of trying to tell the story that’s in your head using the structure and building blocks that make sense to you, the way to nail a doc is figuring out the baseline of the key readers (how they already think about this topic, what do they know, think about, easily recall, etc., vs what they don’t), and structure every building block of the story from that baseline. This is the most intuitive way I’ve found to coach folks on explaining the problem, the pain point and how we know it, why it matters, what we ought to do about it, etc., from a POV that makes sense to key readers and that will lead to the discussions and decisions you want as the writer. The alternative, of course, tends to be a lot of meandering questions that might end up missing the point altogether and waste everyone’s time.
It was terrific collaborating with you Pratik. We communicatie so much via writing (e.g. email, Slack, Chime, text) I am glad this topic is in front of people, especially non-Amazonians who do not have a rigorous narrative writing culture. And, it's increasingly important in the Age of AI because, yes, AI can write for you, but it cannot think for you. That's where writing comes...in sharpens clarity of thoughts.
Really Insightful Pratik Sharma
Very informative
Retired Amazon VP, LinkedIn Top Voice, now Teaching Leaders to become True Executives
6moI think you are covering such an important topic. I believe in the power of writing, but I hated the topic in school. So even as a writer today, I struggle to "teach" writing the way you have broken it down, because I have learned to write purely through doing it, not through a formal structure. You provide that structure!