I try not to post while grumpy, but sometimes, it helps to write something out, get it over with, and then move along. This is one of those posts
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I've been trying to spend more time doing two things when I communicate.
(1) use more words, to make sure I fleshed out the idea fully instead of leaving all kinds of things left as unspoken assumptions. I got tired of cryptic emails and comments from other people and having to ask for clarification, so I try not to do it myself.
(2) use non-antagonistic phrasing. In code reviews this often meant passive voice; instead of "you did this silly thing here", something like "the code is doing some silly thing". Also to put friendly caveats in my phrasing, like "I think [foo]" or "To my recollection [bar]", or "it appears [baz]", rather than declaratives like you got.
The other advantage of #2 is that it's harder to be wrong when all I said was that I thought something or it appeared so to me. :-)
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(1) use more words, to make sure I fleshed out the idea fully instead of leaving all kinds of things left as unspoken assumptions. I got tired of cryptic emails and comments from other people and having to ask for clarification, so I try not to do it myself.
(2) use non-antagonistic phrasing. In code reviews this often meant passive voice; instead of "you did this silly thing here", something like "the code is doing some silly thing". Also to put friendly caveats in my phrasing, like "I think [foo]" or "To my recollection [bar]", or "it appears [baz]", rather than declaratives like you got.
The other advantage of #2 is that it's harder to be wrong when all I said was that I thought something or it appeared so to me. :-)
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