Skip to content
Vivek NarayanamurthyOp-Ed
← All op-eds

Communication is The Job

Writing code is only half the battle. If you can't explain why it matters, it doesn't matter.

By Vivek Narayanamurthy1 min read
Engraving-style illustration of a semaphore signal tower sending waves across a landscape toward a distant town

As engineers, we often think our job is to write code. That's a mistake.

Our job is to solve problems, and writing code is just one tool we use to do that. The other, arguably more important tool, is communication.

If you build the most elegant system in the world, but cannot explain its value to your stakeholders, you have failed. If you cannot convince your peers to adopt your architectural patterns, your patterns are useless.

Communication isn't a soft skill. It's a core engineering competency.

Share this op-ed:XLinkedIn

Subscribe to the Op-Ed

New essays by email, the day they print. One click to confirm, one click to leave — no noise in between.