In his book Rework, Jason Fried mentions how writing is making a comeback. People prefer to email and text instead of calling, not just for work but even in our personal lives. We engage on social issues on Twitter, Facebook and other forums, using text. Even on photo-centric platforms like Instagram, the engagement is primarily around text. Suddenly we’re all writing a lot more than we did a few decades ago. Everything involves writing. I also love how he used writing as the differentiating factor when choosing between hiring 2 equally good candidates. That was quite an insight for me:

“Hire great writers. If you’re trying to decide among a few people to fill a position, hire the best writer. It doesn’t matter if that person is a marketer, salesperson, designer, programmer, or whatever; their writing skills will pay off. That’s because being a good writer is about more than writing. Clear writing is a sign of clear thinking. Great writers know how to communicate. Writing is making a comeback all over our society. Look at how much people email and text now rather than talk on the phone. Writing is today’s currency for good ideas.”

I never saw it that way before. Writing had always felt more like the vehicle to communicate knowledge. Content is king, they always say. And writing, just the means to an end. The flight you don’t (want to) remember when you get to your holiday destination. Unless your job is in itself predominantly about writing (say, a journalist or academic), writing is usually just considered a basic hygiene factor, isn’t it? No developer, designer, secretary, or sportsperson will think writing is mission-critical to them doing their job well. But these words made me rethink how writing is more valuable than we typically give it. Successful entrepreneurs whom I look up to to learn from all write books/blog/tweet more prolifically than others. They all have their own writing voice. 

Suddenly, writing feels like this secret to success that’s been under our noses all this while but we never knew. Well, for me at least.