"By "legible", I mean work that is predictable, well-estimated, has a paper trail, and doesn't depend on any contingent factors (like the availability of specific people). Quarterly planning, OKRs, and Jira all exist to make work legible. Illegible work is everything else: asking for and giving favors, using tacit knowledge that isn't or can't be written down, fitting in unscheduled changes, and drawing on interpersonal relationships. As I'll argue, tech companies need to support both of these kinds of work."
"Thinking in terms of legibility and illegibility explains so many of the things that are confusing about large software companies. It explains why companies do many things that seem obviously counter-productive, why the rules in practice are so often out of sync with the rules as written, and why companies are surprisingly willing to tolerate rule-breaking in some contexts. Seeing like a state"
Modern organizations restructure systems to maximize legibility so that parts can be measured, reported, and managed. Legible work is predictable, well-estimated, documented, and independent of specific individuals; tools like quarterly planning, OKRs, and Jira enforce legibility. Illegible work consists of favors, tacit knowledge, unscheduled adaptations, and interpersonal coordination that cannot be fully captured. Organizations depend heavily on illegible activities despite efforts to increase legibility. Increasing legibility frequently reduces operational efficiency, but organizations accept the trade-offs because of other benefits. Tech companies must support both legible processes and illegible, informal work.
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