Many years ago, I was tasked with leading the engineering team in charge of the re-architecture of the delivery experience in the Uber Eats Eater App. It was a very bold project, spanning over mobile and a number of critical backend services.
I was excited about the opportunity, but there was a little wrinkle in the plan. In typical Uber fashion, we were given 3 weeks to complete the project.
My first reaction was: “Wow that’s ambitious, I’m not sure we can deliver in such a short amount of time”. But that didn’t seem to concern, nor convince the leadership team.
I wasn’t able to influence my leadership team to change the deadline until I sat down and created a massive spreadsheet breaking down the work and assigning estimates. I used the spreadsheet to show people that 3 weeks wasn’t going to be enough, which helped me negotiate for more time and resources.
The principle that made the difference between the two approaches is the topic of today’s article: “Show, don’t tell”.
What is “Show, don’t tell” and how does it work?
“Show, don’t tell” is a storytelling technique in which you aim to tell the story through sensory details and actions, rather than exposition.
“Show, don’t tell” is more than an excellent writing technique, it’s also a very effective communication principle that can be used in work contexts to be more persuasive.
The Russian novelist Anton Checkhov explains it best:
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