The Importance of Memos

I was on a run today and had a thought that I felt is worth recording. This is one of those posts I am writing for myself, so If you’re looking for one of my greats, this might not be it.

I’ve heard the word memo tossed around a lot in some podcasts I’ve been listening to and some books I’m reading (Founder’s Podcast and “Poor Charlie’s Almanack). Jeff Bezos is famous for his use of memo’s in general and when preparing for meetings.

To me, a memo always seemed like some boring company practice that really didn’t appeal much to me. Over the past year or so, I’ve become more interested in the practice and continue to see more value in communicating via memos.

What do I see? Well, the most obvious benefit to me seems to be communication. I tend to do better expressing my thoughts and feelings through writing than I do in conversation. A memo is a permanent document that can be referred to indefinitely by the sender and the receiver. As I think about the direction of the company, where we are missing, where we are winning, why not record this and share it with the team? Team’s don’t know what they don’t know. Detailed communication would certainly be good for company culture and morale. I think this could be good practice for a family too.

Communication is so important and a lot of frustration within teams, families, friendships, etc. is just a breakdown in communication. Before internet, phones, texting and email, people wrote letters to the ones they cared about. To me, a letter seems to be a form of a memo between individuals. Ever watch the “Darkest Hour”? I loved the scenes of Churchill dictating letters to be sent to various leaders and groups of people.

I also see value in storing letters/memos for review at a later time. There has been events in my life where I had certain thoughts/feelings/clarity as a result of some sort of emotional distress. I’ve recorded a few of these situations so I don’t lose those thoughts that have become valuable to me.

An archive of company memos, letters, or any writing would certainly be beneficial for the next generation of leaders, children, grandchildren, and so on. Something I should probably do more often

Quote I am interested in right now:

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler” – Einstein