Item — HN Reader

> an inability to read and understand the specification

I'd say that being able to read and understand what others want is part being a "good communicator", alongisde understanding reviews and comments from other devs and addressing those.

Also, good code is good at communicating what it does to future readers, via comments, variable names, and structure. And if you do that, you're being a good communicator.

1 comments

If just being a normal human being who can read and understand normal stuff makes you immediately a "good communicator" then I also agree that being a "good communicator" is important for any job really. I personally think of someone as being a good communicator as somethign more than just normal basic humans skills and abilities to function around other people. I mean by that measure we are all good athletes if you can run 10 metres or kick a ball down the hill.

Communication is both sending and receiving. If you are only good at sending, you're not a good communicator. You have to be able to listen, both to what is said/written and what is not to be a good communicator. It's not a common skill with most engineers.