Hire great writers

I’m reading Rework by the 37signals software people. (It’s a ‘nuggets of wisdom we’ve sussed out by running our own business’ type book and was a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller recently.) Among their various nuggets of wisdom was this advice: When you’re recruiting, if you can’t choose between two candidates – hire the best writer. Why?

‘…because being a good writer is about more than writing. Clear writing is a sign of clear thinking. Great writers know how to communicate. They make things easy to understand. They can put themselves in someone else’s shoes. They know what to omit. And those are qualities you want in any candidate.

‘Writing is making a comeback all over our society. Look at how much people email and text message now rather than talk on the phone. Look at how much communication happens via instant messaging and blogging. Writing is today’s currency for good ideas.’

We couldn’t agree more.