← DictionaryDocumentation
also called docs
Written records of how something is built, run and maintained.
Written instructions so it survives without you.
What It Is
Documentation is part of Execution, and more precisely Process. The working definition is simple: written records of how something is built, run and maintained.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Held that way, the term stays useful instead of turning into decoration.
How It's Used
Documentation comes up in project delivery, scheduling and the handover between people doing the work. In real work it sits close to Handoff, Standard Operating Procedure and Brand Guidelines. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
Getting Documentation wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, work still happens — it just happens twice. Deciding it deliberately costs one conversation. Leaving it undecided costs several.
It is an idea that changes what you decide, not an item you tick off. Written instructions so it survives without you.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Inside the industry, Documentation is used tightly and assumed to be understood: written records of how something is built, run and maintained.
Away from the jargon, it is written instructions so it survives without you.
The Bottom Line
Documentation is not complicated — it is just often left vague. Written instructions so it survives without you. Decide it, write it down, move on.