Write it down

Such a great piece of advice from Mark:

Whenever someone asks me to do something that I think seems ill-conceived in some way, I ask them to write it down. That’s it. Because writing is high effort. Making sentences is the easy bit, it’s the thinking I want them to do. By considering their request it slows them down. Maybe 30% of the time or something, they come back and say ‘oh, that thing I asked you to do, I’ve had a think and it’s fine, we don’t need to do it’.

Like Mark, I think I enjoy being on the receiving end of this too:

These days, I welcome being asked to ‘write it down’. It gives me permission to take a breath. To pause and reflect on what I’m asking. I’m convinced my heart rate drops a little. You see, in some environments this would be called ‘process’, or ‘red tape’. ‘Being asked to write something down is a blocker to my flow’. Those kinds of responses miss the mark. When being asked to ‘write something down’ it’s really shorthand for ‘take some time and think about what you’re asking’.

Writing is thinking.

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Want something? Write it down March 26, 2018 Mark Boulton, on asking people to formally write down their requests: Next time someone asks you to do something, try it. I bet 3 times out of 10, they say ‘oh it doesn’t matter’. You’ll have that time back. They’ll be a little wiser and have a lower heart rate. Good post. Jump over to his blog and read it. I may take something from this and instill it in my new job. /via Jeremy Keith. #jeremy keith #mark boulton #process #requests #writing View all posts Leave a Reply Cancel reply Comment Name * Email * Website Respond on your own site? Send me a Webmention by writing something on your website that links to this post and then enter your post URL below.