From Throwaway Work to Breakthroughs
Embracing the "Write to Think" Mindset
Early in my career, I spent countless hours crafting visions, roadmaps, and detailed proposals. I vividly remember spending vast amounts of time working on features that never saw the light of day. It felt like a constant cycle of ideation, exploration, and abandonment – a frustrating rollercoaster of false starts. I couldn't help but feel that I was wasting valuable time, producing "throwaway work."
The reality of product development, however, means that many ideas never see the light of day. Priorities shift, markets change, and what feels like monumental efforts can often end up feeling like a colossal waste of time – leading to a feeling that all your hard work was in vain. This frustration became a constant companion in my early days as a PM. It felt like all this hard work poured into producing amazing plans simply went nowhere.
It took me a while to get over this feeling, and it wasn't until I joined my current team that I truly understood the value of these seemingly abandoned efforts - and what’s more, how to lean into this practice to unlock an even bigger superpower.
Now, the obvious revelation is that those seemingly useless projects can actually be invaluable learning experiences; they help you hone your skills, refine your approach, and ultimately bring you closer to a breakthrough concept. But the “aha” moment was when I realized that the act of writing doesn’t always need to be in direct support of a “final” artifact. Rather, it can serve a much bigger purpose…my current team embraces a culture of "write to think," a practice that has fundamentally changed the way I approach work.
The Power of "Write to Think"
The idea behind "write to think" is simple: thoughts are a good starting point, but the act of writing them down, analyzing them, and in some cases, sharing them for feedback elevates the thinking process. Writing helps you to:
Hone your writing style: Over time, writing to think will help you communicate more effectively, clearly, and succinctly.
Conduct valuable research: Even if an initial idea doesn’t pan out, the research you did and the learnings from that often overlap with future projects.
Articulate your ideas: Putting thoughts into words forces you to clarify and refine your concepts - which will help you more quickly figure out which ideas are worth pursuing further, and which ones are better off left behind.
Unlock collaborative potential: Sharing early drafts invites others to contribute their unique perspectives and expertise, leading to a richer and more robust final product.
By embracing this practice, you decrease the pressure of needing to create a masterpiece on the first try. It becomes a low-stress way to explore ideas, gather feedback, and ultimately, produce better outputs - be they ideas, products, presentations, or strategies. The act of writing and sharing imperfect ideas became a powerful catalyst for growth and innovation.
Furthermore, writing to think fosters a sense of ownership and belonging across the whole team. It's no longer one person polishing an idea in isolation and then handing it off. Instead, it becomes a collaborative effort where everyone feels invested and aligned. It unlocks untapped thoughts and creates a positive network effect by encouraging early collaboration and respectful sharing. By involving others early in the process, we leverage the collective wisdom of the team and ensure everyone feels heard and valued.
"Write to Think" in Action: A Case Study
One of the most impactful examples I can share is the path that led to the development of the Gemini API. Initially, my team and I were focused on building something we were referring to as a "Construction Engine" – a search engine that went beyond simply providing answers by helping users execute specific tasks. This was an ambitious goal, but the introduction of generative AI made us believe that it would be possible. What we found, however, was that the admittedly advanced technology for the time still wasn't quite ready.
After a lot of research, early stage PRDs, and strategy docs - we eventually decided to abandon that project, but the journey taught us crucial lessons about the current state of AI and how we could leverage our existing capabilities. This eventually led us to the development of the Gemini API and Google AI Studio, which have been widely successful.
From "Write to Think" to "Talk to Think"
The impact of generative AI on how we work is undeniable. For me, what started as a practice of "writing to think" has already evolved into "talking to think". I now capture ideas on the fly, leveraging audio recordings to brainstorm, discuss, and iterate on concepts. I then feed these recordings into Gemini to help produce something that can serve as a first draft and foundation for more detailed write-ups.
The shift from "throwaway work" to "write to think" to "talk to think" has been an impactful journey. Generative AI is accelerating this process, and it makes me wonder: what's next?