I was going to fire someone for the first time.
My mind was a mess. I kept rehearsing different versions in my head. Should I be direct? Should I soften it? What if I say the wrong thing? What if I freeze?
The pressure built the more I tried to figure it out. Everything felt tangled. Emotional. Loud.
That’s when HR gave me two pieces of advice:
- “Know what you’re going to say before you say it.”
- “Write it down.”
So I did.
And something unexpected happened. The noise in my head started to quiet. My thoughts started to take shape. Writing forced me to sort through the fog—until what I needed to say became clear.
When the moment came, it was still hard. But I was composed. Focused. And more than anything, I was respectful—because I had taken the time to be prepared.
The calm? The focus? It came from writing it down.
That’s when I learned a powerful lesson: writing down what matters brings clarity to confusion and confidence to uncertainty.
Why Writing Works
We talk a lot in business. We meet, brainstorm, discuss, present. But we don’t consistently write.
And when we don’t write, we miss the chance to think clearly.
I love videos, podcasts, and audiobooks — for consuming information.
But for thinking? For sorting things out?
Nothing beats writing.
Writing forces precision. It reveals what we actually believe. It sharpens the point, exposes contradictions, and trims the fluff.
Dan McCormack, in Brief, puts it simply: clarity takes work. And writing is that work.
If you can’t write it clearly, you probably don’t understand it clearly.
I saw this firsthand again when facing a complex decision.
From Thought to Action
I thought I had the answer.
I’d gathered input. Heard the arguments. Weighed the tradeoffs.
The decision was forming — not fully baked, but solid enough in my head.
Now I just needed to explain it.
I had two options: call a meeting and talk it through, or write it down
I chose to write.
And that’s when I realized something:
It wasn’t as clear as I thought.
Putting the logic on paper exposed gaps.
Some benefits I’d taken for granted didn’t hold up.
Some risks I’d brushed past looked bigger in writing.
In the end, I didn’t change my decision — but I refined it.
I strengthened it.
Not a reaction. Not a whim.
A considered, durable choice.
That’s what writing does.
It doesn’t just help you express your thinking — it improves it.
Talk Feels Clear — Writing Is Clear
We confuse verbal polish with clear thinking. We assume that if something sounded good, it was understood.
It wasn’t.
Writing makes it real:
- It reveals weak logic.
- It shows what’s missing.
- It helps others see what you meant—not just what you said.
That’s why Amazon banned PowerPoint in executive meetings. As Working Backwards explains, meetings start with everyone reading a written narrative memo. No slides. No bullet-point fluff. Just a clear, written explanation of the issue, the thinking behind it, and the proposed action.
Why? Because slides make it easy to gloss over complexity. Writing doesn’t let you hide.
Slides can make you look sharp.
Writing forces you to be sharp.
Writing Also Aligns, Commits, and Anchors
Writing isn’t just about thinking clearly—it’s also about making that clarity shareable:
- It aligns teams.
- It builds commitment.
- It creates accountability.
But those are second-order benefits. Clarity is the cause.
You can’t have alignment without shared understanding. You can’t have ownership if people don’t know what they’re owning.
But Doesn’t Writing Slow Us Down? (Or Feel Hard?)
Only if we’re in a hurry to go in the wrong direction — or nowhere at all.
But beyond the time factor, many of us resist writing because it can feel daunting. We might worry about perfection, struggle with getting started, or simply feel we don’t ‘have the energy’ to put thoughts to paper.
Here’s the powerful truth: these struggles are often precisely why writing is what we need. That’s because it forces clarity and helps us overcome that initial inertia. A few bullet points after the meeting beats a week of misaligned work.
You don’t need a memo every time. Simply capture what matters most:
- What was decided?
- Why?
- Who owns what?
Key Takeaway (TL; DR)
We’ve all got priorities. Projects. Pressure.
And in the middle of all that, it’s easy to confuse talking with thinking.
But real clarity doesn’t come from meetings. Or calls.
It comes from writing.
Writing down what you’re trying to do.
Writing how you plan to do it.
Writing the questions you’re still figuring out.
Because when we leave thoughts in our heads, they stay vague and uncommitted.
But when we write them down, they take shape.
Real clarity comes from writing. If it’s important, write it down.
Try This
What’s one idea or decision you’ve been avoiding or delaying?
Take 10 minutes today to write it down.
Use this simple template:
- What’s the issue or goal?
- What are the options?
- What’s the next step?
Did you gain any clarity? What surprised you?
I’d love for you to share in the comments!
