How I Provide Technical Clarity to Non-Technical Leaders
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The author shares their approach to providing technical clarity to non-technical leaders, and the HN community responds with a single, supportive comment.
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- 01Story posted
Oct 12, 2025 at 6:23 AM EDT
about 2 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Oct 12, 2025 at 6:48 AM EDT
25m after posting
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Oct 12, 2025 at 6:48 AM EDT
about 2 months ago
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see also this important technical clarity video -which I think is very realistic to real life technical conversations with management: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OnoxKotPQ
I think a lot of engineers would rather try to solve a thorny technical problem or even re-architect a whole system than have to explain anything in words to a senior manager or VP. As a result, those of us who can communicate well in both engineering and management speak tend to rise in the ranks
More seriously, good communication is REALLY REALLY hard -communication is not writing a good article, doc or giving a good lecture on the backend. communication is making sure the intended audience understands the situation well enough to make an informed decision on the task in hand. It means getting feedback on their understanding of the situation, trying repeated ways to get your message heard until it does.
-What I mean is having empathy for the audience or recipient's point of view and spending time to make sure they understand what you are telling them.
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