Over the past few days, I've used LLMs to research, challenge ideas, explore scenarios, and document decisions as I build. They make it easier to produce documents. That reminded me of a skill I developed as a developer.

I've worked on projects with millions of lines of code. To understand a change, I needed a mental map of the architecture, the code, and the documentation. I had to see where a piece fit and notice when it didn't. Now the material isn't only code. LLMs can also generate decision records, procedures, and documents about how an organization works. Those pieces need to make sense together, too.

My working hypothesis is that, in an AI-native organization, the scarce skill may not be writing. It may be reading well enough to keep that larger map in mind and remain in control. I don't yet know how a team can maintain it as the volume grows. But more output only helps if someone can understand what connects and what no longer fits.