Thread by @berkun

1. In the debate over the best communication tool, like Slack or email, what's missing is consideration of org culture. Tools rarely change culture, but culture always changes tools.

The trap is changing tools is less scary for managers than learning how to change culture.

2. Managers can't help but want tools that make their job easier. As much as they might say "this will help our team" unless they're doing user research to understand how their team actually works, they are heavily biased towards their own needs and experiences.

3. Often the worst abusers of "the spirit of the tool" are managers. Who writes the worst emails? Who clearly skims messages when replying? Who swoops in ignoring context to drop decision bombs and fly away? Managers.

Behavior modeling tells us what leaders do, others copy.

4. We tend to talk in big waves of change. "Email will cure the problem of office memos. Slack with cure the problems of emails...." but that denies how diff every organization culture is in it's norms of communication.

e.g. does hiring criteria truly include writing skills?

5. My experience at @automattic, a 100% remote company, was, shockingly, everyone wrote well! They asked clarifying questions. It was a trait in the culture.

It was NOT something that came from the tools they used. It WAS something that would make any tool more likely to work.

6. We should be asking how do we make "good communication skills" more than a platitude we all assume we already have?

How do we value and grow people into being good communicators with ANY tool? To write and read thoughtfully? That's the scarce resource that frustrates us.