[dint]

Can you talk at all about what they do to develop writing skill?

> I'm convinced it's a major reason they've been so successful.

I'd be interested to hear why you think this.

One guess I've got is that a high standard for writing is a filter for bad ideas - if you can't justify your idea in a tight, well-written document, then it's probably not worth trying out.

[jrauser]

You've got it more or less. The way I say it is that bad ideas can't hide in writing. You can fool yourself and others with a powerpoint or a spoken argument. But clear writing demands clear thinking. Poorly constructed arguments are (usually) obvious as such when put into writing.

[giaour]

They have classes and workshops for employees who want to get better at writing, but primarily they just expect you to get better with practice. I wrote a few one pagers every month as an engineer, and managers produced an order of magnitude more.