Brie Wolfson speaks with Brett Berson about writing at Stripe. She sees writing as a way to think. The author gains from working an idea out on the page, even before anyone reads it. The interview gives an account of habits she saw and used. It does not test their effects against other ways to work. [1]
One habit was to let the people doing the work write the record. They could share what they had done with the rest of the firm. A team’s work did not have to reach others only through a report from its boss. [1]
Wolfson also describes a kickoff template she used with clients. It asks what issue the work will address and what questions the team hopes to answer. A shared channel for retrospectives serves a different purpose: people can post beyond their own team’s channel. The format helps a writer state the work; the channel helps others find it. [1]
She gives an example from Stripe Press. In a project update, she asked how to pay authors. An engineer she had never met had worked at a record label. He saw the question and shared what he knew. Writing helped her find useful knowledge in someone she would not have known to ask. [1]
The talk also covers how to make a value clear enough to use. Wolfson describes a front-page test. Ask whether you would feel at ease if a newspaper reported what you did. This gives people a scene to picture when they weigh an act. It makes a broad value like integrity more concrete. [1]
Keep the time of the account in view. Wolfson says Stripe may have changed since she left. The interview describes the work as she knew it. It is not a current audit or proof that copying the firm’s documents will produce the same results. [1]