Writing culture in teams (and in life in general)
When discussing ideas, some of them come up as we go along in the conversation; and others are cooked up in our conscious mind beforehand. This applies to any conversation, whether it is a public debate or a private daily conversation. Most of what we express is a by-product of our historical baggage of thoughts, experiences, and theoretical knowledge, that we apply to the situation at hand according to requirements and context. Many situations are similar to past ones we have experienced, so we can recognize the patterns and fit our thinking into the current situation.
Writing can make thoughts take shape with stronger valence. When writing, active thinking is activated, and that fosters your ability to make arguments, delve deeper into the topics you are elaborating on, and, importantly, uncover blind spots on those topics. This process can feel humbling and uncomfortable for the ego, which gets energy from righteousness and a feeling of manufactured conviction.
As is the case for most impactful decisions in your life, humility and a sense of inadequacy are requirements to get your foot in the door of learning and personal growth. You may seek personal growth to feel alive and progress in your ability to understand the phenomena happening around you all day. This to placate the inherent sense of discomfort you may feel to a certain degree also depending on your personality traits and current conditions. The ability to be okay with feeling inadequacy and stupidity is a requirement for beginning something new and not giving up immediately, but being okay with the process of being not good - because why does it matter being good, if what you do is primarily for yourself instead of for appearing a certain way to others?
Writing can avoid misunderstandings and fake conversations strongly carried over by all the non-important psychological nuances taking place during a conversation (body language noise, tone of voice noise, your current state of being, how you feel about the person in front of you, how self-conscious you feel in the moment, and more). These are noises in the mysterious jungle of life, fogging the surroundings and making it difficult to come to conclusions and see beyond a few centimeters.
A culture of writing in teams is preached by companies such as Amazon and Basecamp. As popularized by Jeff Bezos and the Amazon culture, every meeting has a detailed brief written beforehand carefully and read by everyone on the team during the first moments of the meeting. Writing crystallizes your thoughts, and you may often encounter that one concept is not as you wish it was, or as you thought it was, or how you were taught it would be.
That is part of the constant learning process that is existence as a human. Writing allows you to place a higher value on finding out and exploring the truth, instead of manufacturing self-serving distorted beliefs and thoughts that serve no one but your current, self-indulgent, short-term-minded self with all its fears and snakes in the imaginary closet.
The act of writing transcends mere communication; it serves as a crucial tool for clarifying thoughts and fostering personal development. Writing shapes your ideas with greater precision than spoken words, delving into the depths of topics and revealing hidden aspects of your understanding. Importantly, writing is a journey toward self-improvement and continuous learning. As you navigate through the complexities of your thoughts and experiences, writing becomes not just a method of expression, but a companion in the lifelong quest for knowledge and self-awareness.