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Get the write start

Business Day about 7 hours 1 mins read
Get the write start By Omagbitse Barrow Q: “Poorly written reports create ambiguity, slow decision-making, and often result in costly misunderstandings. Clear writing, on the other hand, aligns people around shared understanding and enables faster, better decisions.” One of the recurring observations I make when reviewing strategy documents, board papers, business proposals, consultancy reports, and executive presentations is that many professionals confuse writing with typing. Their documents are grammatically correct, beautifully formatted, and packed with information, yet somehow fail to communicate. By the time I finish reviewing them, I often realise the problem is not the writing. It is the thinking behind the writing. This matters because in today’s workplace, writing is no longer an administrative skill. It is a leadership skill. Every day, professionals influence decisions through emails, proposals, reports, memos, presentations, project updates, and increasingly, even the prompts they write for artificial intelligence. Our writing shapes how others perceive our competence, credibility, and judgement. One of the biggest misconceptions about business writing is that it is primarily about grammar. Grammar certainly matters, but excellent writing begins long before punctuation and sentence structure. Good writing is simply good thinking made visible. If our thinking is disorganised, our writing will usually reflect it. If our arguments lack logic, clarity, or evidence, no amount of proofreading will fix them. This connection between thinking and writing has been recognised for decades. Barbara Minto’s influential Pyramid Principle, widely used by leading consulting firms and multinational organisations, argues that effective business writing should begin with the main message before presenting the supporting arguments. Executives rarely have time to read lengthy narratives in search of the conclusion. They want the answer first, followed by the evidence that supports it. Good business writing therefore mirrors good executive thinking: structured, logical, concise, and purposeful. Poorly written reports create ambiguity, slow decision-making, and often result in costly misunderstandings. Clear writing, on the other hand, aligns people around shared understanding and enables faster, better decisions. The importance of writing has become even greater in the age of artificial intelligence. Ironically, as AI becomes better at generating content, the ability to write clearly becomes more valuable, not less. The quality of AI output depends heavily on the quality of the instructions we provide. Prompting is, in many respects, a new form of business writing. Professionals who can express their objectives clearly, provide context, define constraints, and ask thoughtful questions consistently obtain better results from AI than those who simply type vague requests. Once again, better thinking produces better writing, and better writing produces better outcomes. So, what writing capabilities should professionals deliberately develop? First, write with purpose. Every document should answer a simple question: What do I want the reader to know, think, feel, or do after reading this? Too many business documents provide information without achieving an outcome. Effective writing is not merely descriptive; it is intentional. Second, structure your thinking before writing. Many professionals begin writing before they have organised their ideas. The result is repetition, weak arguments, and confusing narratives. Developing a simple outline before writing often produces clearer, shorter, and more persuasive documents. Structure is not an administrative exercise; it is evidence of disciplined thinking. Third, write for your audience rather than for yourself. Executives, clients, regulators, and technical specialists all read differently. Good writers adapt their language, level of detail, and style to the needs of their readers. The objective is not to impress people with sophisticated vocabulary but to help them understand quickly and accurately. Fourth, embrace simplicity. The Plain Language movement has demonstrated that clear, concise writing improves comprehension, reduces errors, strengthens compliance, and enhances customer experience. Unfortunately, many professionals still believe that complex language signals intelligence. Simplicity often requires greater mastery than complexity. Albert Einstein reportedly advised that if you cannot explain something simply, you probably do not understand it well enough. While the quotation’s exact origin is debated, the principle remains remarkably relevant to business writing. Finally, rewrite. Few excellent documents emerge from the first draft. Experienced writers understand that writing is largely an editing process. Every revision removes unnecessary words, strengthens logic, improves flow, and sharpens the message. As Blaise Pascal famously wrote in a letter, “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.” Concise writing requires deliberate effort. Organisations also have a responsibility. We spend significant resources developing technical competence, leadership capability, and digital skills, yet comparatively little teaching professionals how to write effectively. Business writing should no longer be treated as a remedial communication programme reserved for junior employees. It is a strategic capability that influences leadership, customer relationships, project execution, regulatory compliance, knowledge management, and organisational reputation. The organisations that communicate best often execute best because clarity reduces confusion, accelerates decisions, and aligns people around common objectives. Every strategy document, project proposal, board paper, customer email, and AI prompt becomes an opportunity either to create clarity or create confusion. If you want better decisions, write more clearly. If you want stronger leadership, think more clearly. And if you want better organisational results, remember that every successful strategy, proposal, project, and innovation begins with one well-written idea. The best way to get the right results is to get the right start. image.png Omagbitse Barrow is the chief executive of Efiko Management Consulting, and he supports organisations and leaders to translate their strategy to results.

One of the recurring observations I make when reviewing strategy documents, board papers, business proposals, consultancy reports, and executive presentations

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