After years of study, Grammarly's leadership concluded that the definition of "better writing" is entirely situational. The most critical first step is not grammar, but clarifying the communication's goal—whether it's to inspire action, change an opinion, or simply inform—before writing a single word.
Grammarly's co-founders discovered their plagiarism detection tool was flagging users who struggled to express thoughts in writing. Instead of building a better plagiarism cop, they built a tool to make writing easier, thereby addressing the core problem that led to plagiarism in the first place.
In high-stakes discussions, instinctually attacking a point leads to a zero-sum game. Grammarly's co-founder starts his responses with a genuine "Yes" (not "Yes, but…"). This tactic is primarily for his own benefit, mentally priming him to find common ground first, which then shifts the conversation's dynamic toward a productive outcome.