David Pierce

And instead, we just trained everyone to talk in work like they talk to their friends in text. And culturally, I think that is really interesting and complicated, but it immediately broke that paradigm that you're talking about, which is Slack even has always said that Slack uses Slack in a much more considered way. People write much longer things.

It's designed less for like minute to minute updates of what you're doing all day and more for like a, here's what I accomplished during the day. Again, so that someone can go find it later. You're not expected at Slack to be in lots of rooms. There is a norm that if you need somebody, you mention them. And Slack set up all these rules, but didn't bake any of it into the product.

It's designed less for like minute to minute updates of what you're doing all day and more for like a, here's what I accomplished during the day. Again, so that someone can go find it later. You're not expected at Slack to be in lots of rooms. There is a norm that if you need somebody, you mention them. And Slack set up all these rules, but didn't bake any of it into the product.

It's designed less for like minute to minute updates of what you're doing all day and more for like a, here's what I accomplished during the day. Again, so that someone can go find it later. You're not expected at Slack to be in lots of rooms. There is a norm that if you need somebody, you mention them. And Slack set up all these rules, but didn't bake any of it into the product.

They built a product that looks like text messaging. And so people used it like text messaging. And Slack has now spent the last decade being like, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's all about rules. You have to set up norms. You have to teach each other how to use the app. And it's like, no, stop building me a text messaging app.

They built a product that looks like text messaging. And so people used it like text messaging. And Slack has now spent the last decade being like, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's all about rules. You have to set up norms. You have to teach each other how to use the app. And it's like, no, stop building me a text messaging app.

They built a product that looks like text messaging. And so people used it like text messaging. And Slack has now spent the last decade being like, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's all about rules. You have to set up norms. You have to teach each other how to use the app. And it's like, no, stop building me a text messaging app.

Maybe. I mean, I think to be clear, the idea that you should spend a lot of time training people how to use your most important products when they join your company is really good and no one does it. Like you should have to spend a day learning how your company communicates when you join a company. That stuff matters. And we just like hand people Slack and they're like, we use Slack.

Maybe. I mean, I think to be clear, the idea that you should spend a lot of time training people how to use your most important products when they join your company is really good and no one does it. Like you should have to spend a day learning how your company communicates when you join a company. That stuff matters. And we just like hand people Slack and they're like, we use Slack.

Maybe. I mean, I think to be clear, the idea that you should spend a lot of time training people how to use your most important products when they join your company is really good and no one does it. Like you should have to spend a day learning how your company communicates when you join a company. That stuff matters. And we just like hand people Slack and they're like, we use Slack.

And that's as much as you get. Like, do you know how to use Slack? It's like, sure. But I don't know how to use Slack the way that you use Slack, right? And that stuff matters a lot. I talked to this woman, Laura Martin, who is like Google's productivity guru. And one of the things she recommends to everybody is like, just muck around in the settings.

And that's as much as you get. Like, do you know how to use Slack? It's like, sure. But I don't know how to use Slack the way that you use Slack, right? And that stuff matters a lot. I talked to this woman, Laura Martin, who is like Google's productivity guru. And one of the things she recommends to everybody is like, just muck around in the settings.

And that's as much as you get. Like, do you know how to use Slack? It's like, sure. But I don't know how to use Slack the way that you use Slack, right? And that stuff matters a lot. I talked to this woman, Laura Martin, who is like Google's productivity guru. And one of the things she recommends to everybody is like, just muck around in the settings.

Just go spend 10 minutes clicking all the buttons in the settings just to see how the thing works. And like even one extra tick of understanding of the software goes an incredibly long way. But if you're Slack and you both use this product and run your company on it, the one does not absolve the other, right? You can and should train people on your company's best practices for Slack.

Just go spend 10 minutes clicking all the buttons in the settings just to see how the thing works. And like even one extra tick of understanding of the software goes an incredibly long way. But if you're Slack and you both use this product and run your company on it, the one does not absolve the other, right? You can and should train people on your company's best practices for Slack.

Just go spend 10 minutes clicking all the buttons in the settings just to see how the thing works. And like even one extra tick of understanding of the software goes an incredibly long way. But if you're Slack and you both use this product and run your company on it, the one does not absolve the other, right? You can and should train people on your company's best practices for Slack.

That doesn't mean that everyone else should figure out your best practices just kind of by osmosis. That's not how it works. overwhelmingly the question is, are we ever going to go too far and swing the pendulum back? Because so far there's really no evidence that we're going to, right?

That doesn't mean that everyone else should figure out your best practices just kind of by osmosis. That's not how it works. overwhelmingly the question is, are we ever going to go too far and swing the pendulum back? Because so far there's really no evidence that we're going to, right?

That doesn't mean that everyone else should figure out your best practices just kind of by osmosis. That's not how it works. overwhelmingly the question is, are we ever going to go too far and swing the pendulum back? Because so far there's really no evidence that we're going to, right?

There are a lot of people who complain that everything is moving too fast and we're all too attached to these messaging systems and we can't keep up with everything and it's making us crazy and we all spend time in Slack instead of actually doing our jobs. And there's just no indication that that's going back.