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Comment on Ask HN: What non-technical skill would help you most in your career in 2016?

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Writing is far and away my number one suggestion. It's not even a contest.

A well-written developer is someone who can organize their thoughts and then express them in a way that others can understand. This requires mental discipline, clarity of thought, empathy, and intelligence, all of which are skills that will take any developer to new heights.

I have read, but don't have a reference handy, that writing skill correlates strongly with success if you work for a large organization.

In theory, a larger organisation would have more communication going on, and having messages that stand out among the noise would definitely set you apart. Moreover, the more people you communicate with, the less you know each person on a personal level -- the more impersonal each correspondent is. The less you know someone, the more important proper, clear language is.

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