How Blogging Has Helped Me Apply the DRY Principle to Conversations

I recently had an online conversation with old friend Dakota Blair. It had been a while since we talked, and so there was a lot to catch up on – where we’re both working now, life events, tech news, etc. Throughout the course of the conversation, in response to about half of the questions Dakota asked me, I found myself sending him links to blog posts I’d written in the past. For example, my response to “what are you currently doing for work” was simply “here, check out this blog post”, with a link to the blog post in which I detailed exactly who I’m working for, and what I’m doing – complete with links to everything, list of clients, etc. I had already taken the time to answer that question in full, and so instead of typing out the answer again, a simple link answered the question fully. I love this method for answering question. Not because pushes people away, but because it allows me to remain closer and have more detailed conversations with people. Instead of my hacking out a half-assed response to that question, I can now simply send the link and give full answer. Less energy for me, more room for detail, closer relationships.

In explaining this methodology to Dakota, he aptly made reference to the  “Don’t Repeat  Yourself” (DRY) principle for software development, which simply states:

“Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.”

For me, my own DRY Principle universal knowledge base is my blog. And thank you for reading it. :)

Dont repeat yourself – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.