Ruthless Simplification for PM Writing
A set of concrete tools to strip PM documents down to only what's necessary.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 90%
Since so much of a PM's output is written, Crowley offers repeatable tools to simplify it: read it aloud, say the thing you'd say in conversation, delete the opening paragraphs, front-load the conclusion, cap lists at three, and route work through trusted peer editors. The aim is to get things done, not to write like you're in school.
Origin
A mix of techniques Crowley learned from her father in grade school (read aloud; discard the first page) and business-school/consulting conventions (rule of three; the Minto Pyramid Principle, credited to Barbara Minto), plus a private peer-editing Slack group.
Core principles
- 01Anything can be simplified and shortened
- 02Our goal is to get things done, not to write like school
- 03The stuff that's easy for you may be the most useful to share
- 04Peer feedback gets harder and more necessary the more senior you get
How to run it
- 1
Read it out loud
Literally read what you wrote out loud; half the time you'll realize it's too complicated or doesn't make sense.
Pro tip If someone hands you a doc, ask them 'what are you trying to say?' The plain answer they give in conversation is what belongs on the page.
- 2
Delete the opening
Cut the first two paragraphs (or first page) of most docs; you almost never need them. Then cut every unnecessary adjective and word.
Pro tip Her father would take away the first page unread and say 'just start here'; try it on your own drafts.
- 3
Lead with the conclusion (Minto Pyramid)
Put the headline and full conclusion first, then your supporting argument, rather than building up to it.
Pro tip New PMs often build suspense; don't, just tell people the thing and they'll thank you.
- 4
Cap it at three
Limit strategy bets, priorities, conclusions, and next steps to three or fewer; pick the single highest-impact thing rather than lumping ideas together.
Pro tip If a fourth item appears, figure out how to squish it in; four just doesn't look right.
Watch out Lumping ideas together dilutes everything; picking one that has the most impact beats several with minor impact.
- 5
Route through peer editors
Find a couple of trusted, non-competitive peers who will edit your work and help simplify it, and use them continuously.
Pro tip Keep in touch with great colleagues when you leave a job; they may become your small editing group (hers is a 3-person Slack of product leaders from Drift).
In the wild
When a PM's document doesn't match the crisp explanation they give aloud ('users are struggling with X, and we think the way to solve it is Y'), Crowley's reaction is always to tell them to just write that sentence down.
→ The conversational version is clearer than the polished prose, and the document gets dramatically simpler.
Common mistakes
Writing like you're in school
Building suspense, padding with intros and adjectives, and treating prose as an academic exercise adds length without adding meaning; the goal is to get things done.
Is it for you?
Best for
PMs (and anyone) whose written docs, specs, and emails run long and who've been told they need to communicate more clearly.
Not ideal for
Situations that genuinely require exhaustive depth, such as the landscape section of a strategy doc, where length is the point.
From the transcript
“when you write something read it out loud literally just read the thing you wrote out loud and half the time you'll realize it's way…”
“the thing that you said to me in conversation is the thing you should write it”
“pretty much every doc you write you can delete the first two paragraphs that you you've written you don't need them”
“put the put the headline the full conclusion first and then you're supporting argument second”
“there's always three things or fewer never more than three things”
“find a peer you know maybe who's in a non-competitive space who can do that for you”
From the episode
Mastering product strategy and growing as a PM
Maggie Crowley (Toast, Drift, Tripadvisor)