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by AdamCraven 1812 days ago
Yeah, I know what you mean.

I've a few principles for that: https://principles.dev/p/documentation-should-be-close-to-th... and “They Ain’t Gonna Read It” (not on the website, yet. But it is here: https://blog.nuclino.com/brown-m-ms-or-why-no-one-s-reading-...)

The trouble with the documents you've mentioned is they don't really create capability and it's really the social structure that enforces those values and principles as opposed to the documents.

With engineering it's different because it provides tangible value.

From a team perspective it can help you transfer mental models. Programming is an abstract activity that benefits greatly from those shared models. They build capability, help people learn rapidly, settle disagreements, bring the team together as one and are used in things like code reviews and filtering of technical decisions. People come back to them again and again - it's integrated. Then when a new member of the team comes a long, you're not going back to those discussions again and again.

As an individual. One of the reasons you look back at your principles to remind why you believe something or to be more convincing. They provide value, so they keep being used. It's also part of that persons identity. It defines what they care about and helps them join teams with people who are aligned.

So I agree to an extent - They Ain’t Gonna Read It... Unless it provides value.