Write Down the Plan

Writing down a plan helps sharpen thinking, since turning ideas into a coherent narrative can reveal optimizations and edge cases. Sharing drafts also helps align people on the same page and makes performance conversations easier because more people already know the work.

The author presents this as a habit that supported smoother promotions and more opportunities over time, and says it is a simple advantage that other software engineers can use too.

Reading notes

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• Marc Andreessen says people who write down the plan are often the ones you find moving up in a tech company.
• The author says this was something he started doing at mid-level and later saw as part of smoother promotions.
• Writing forces thoughts into a coherent, logical narrative and can uncover optimizations or edge cases.
• Writing and sharing a plan helps others get aligned through drafts and feedback.
• Sharing the plan makes the work more visible and strengthens internal recognition.
• Better internal visibility can lead to smoother performance conversations and more opportunities.
• The author describes this habit as one of his unfair advantages.
• He says he enjoys writing and has had more opportunities because of that habit.
• He recommends writing down the plan and sharing it in the next planning season.