Maniacal Clarity: Think Before You Type
The new version of think-before-you-speak is think-before-you-type.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
Maniacal clarity is Dhawan's discipline of pausing before sending a digital message to ensure it is genuinely clear, not just clear in your own head. The new version of 'think before you speak' is 'think before you type.' Before firing off a Slack or email, take two breaths and check that you've answered the who, what, and when, stated the ask and its response time, and explained why the recipient needs it. Brief, low-context messages feel disrespectful, especially to newer colleagues who lack the relationship to fill in your intent. When text can't carry the nuance, a voice or video note can.
Origin
Born from Dhawan's own failure with a remote marketing intern in Dallas: her terse low-context emails, cancelled meetings, and missing punctuation left him feeling so devalued that six weeks in he said he felt like quitting that day.
Core principles
- 01Thinking you're clear is not the same as being clear.
- 02Take two breaths before sending to check the who, what, when, and why.
- 03Brief low-context messages read as disrespect, especially to people who don't know you.
- 04Give enough context that the recipient understands why their work matters.
How to run it
- 1
Pause before you send
Treat sending a message like speaking — take two breaths and reread before you hit send on a Slack or email.
Watch out Stream-of-consciousness speed-typing that a close colleague reads as fine will read as mean to a new team member.
- 2
Run the clarity checklist
Confirm the message answers the who, what, and when, names the ask and expected response time, and explains why the person needs it.
Pro tip You're not asking for long prose — just enough context that they understand why their work matters.
- 3
Escalate the medium when text falls short
When tone or complexity can't survive as text, send a voice note or a video note instead, especially for executive teams used to just saying things.
In the wild
Dhawan hired a remote marketing intern and communicated via brief low-context emails, cancelled or interrupted calls, and no punctuation or emojis. Six weeks in, on a call, he said things were going terribly and he felt like quitting that day. She had read his nonchalant 'okay, I'll get it done' as contentment; he had felt devalued the entire time.
→ She corrected course — regular calls about what he wanted to learn, radical recognition of his work, maniacally clear messages, and respect for his time — and saved the relationship.
Common mistakes
Sending brief low-context orders
Executives used to saying things and having them done fire off terse messages that force the recipient to dig for information and feel disrespected.
Skipping punctuation and acknowledgment
Writing 'thx' instead of a real thank-you, or 'K.' with a period, reads to digital natives as a curt acknowledgment or passive aggression rather than genuine appreciation.
Is it for you?
Best for
Fast-moving leaders and high achievers whose stream-of-consciousness messaging reads as curt or mean to newer team members.
Not ideal for
Close, high-trust relationships where rapid informal shorthand is already mutually understood.
From the transcript
“The new version of think before you speak is think before you type. And it's also about choosing what I call maniacal clarity.”
From the episode
Erica Dhawan: Digital Body Language, Effective Communication Strategies for the Digital Age
Erica Dhawan