BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
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Re: BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
#2It's not a standard, it's the same as TLDR. The only difference is that it's before the content instead of after.
Re: BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
#3This is a sore spot for me, someone sending an IM with a quick "Got a minute?", which pulls me out of my thought zone. And once I answer back, I have no idea how long it is going to take for them to tell me what their issue is (could be 30 seconds, or a couple minutes -- I've often waited for 10 minutes, then got up to go for a meeting, and they get upset when I don't answer).
I'd much rather them just tell me what problem they are having up front, so I cat least give them an answer and get back to work.
Re: BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
#4Like everything else in the US military, there is a written standard to support this style. See Army Regulation 25-50, Section IV "The Army Writing Style" https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/r25_50....
> Army writing will be concise, organized, and to the point. Two essential requirements include putting the main point at the beginning of the correspondence (bottom line up front) and using the active voice (for example, “You are entitled to jump pay for the time you spent in training last year”).
Re: BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
#5Makes sense, depending on complexity my email sections tend to be.
Executive summary: Summary: In general: Specifically:
Now I feel all sorts of validated for being pedantic about the whole thing.
Re: BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
#6Funny, this is more or less exactly how we write our reports. But I've never heard of 'BLUF'. It seems to be the most logical way in which to write a report given that attention decays over the reading of a piece and that active voice trumps passive voice when writing about real world events and situations, it simply makes the writing more compelling.
Re: BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
#7This is a sore spot for me, someone sending an IM with a quick "Got a minute?", which pulls me out of my thought zone. And once I answer back, I have no idea how long it is going to take for them to tell me what their issue is (could be 30 seconds, or a couple minutes -- I've often waited for 10 minutes, then got up to go for a meeting, and they get upset when I don't answer). I'd much rather them just tell me what p…
Much of my previous life:
— ut?
— Ugh what? [ Stare at screen for what feels like an hour. ]
— nvm
Re: BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
#8Like everything else in the US military, there is a written standard to support this style. See Army Regulation 25-50, Section IV "The Army Writing Style" https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/r25_50.... > Army writing will be concise, organized, and to the point. Two essential requirements include putting the main point at the beginning of the correspondence (bottom line up front) and using the active…
That's the passive voice! The explanation for why their example of the active voice is in fact the passive voice is right below, in section "e". That's pretty funny.
Re: BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
#9Makes sense, depending on complexity my email sections tend to be. Executive summary: Summary: In general: Specifically: Now I feel all sorts of validated for being pedantic about the whole thing.
Yes.
In most of the companies I work with, there tend to be large email threads. It's not uncommon for a dozen people to be on a thread once I get snowballed into it. There are not only engineers but usually C-level folks as well.
By the time I make my reply, I usually end up writing "bottom up" just like you are saying... I write the detail, then summarize it above and then try to answer the top 1 or 2 questions I know the top-level folks will want answered at the bottom—even if it's just "we know what the problem is and it's been fixed or will be fixed shortly".
I think it's comforting for the top-level folks to see the respect that answers their questions quickly and it also makes them feel good that additional detail is available for those who care.
Re: BLUF: A military standard to make writing more powerful
#10This is a sore spot for me, someone sending an IM with a quick "Got a minute?", which pulls me out of my thought zone. And once I answer back, I have no idea how long it is going to take for them to tell me what their issue is (could be 30 seconds, or a couple minutes -- I've often waited for 10 minutes, then got up to go for a meeting, and they get upset when I don't answer). I'd much rather them just tell me what p…
Q: "Got a minute?"
A: "No"
Then close the app/tab and crank up that Led Zeppelin so you can GSD