I've seen this, too. However, it mostly seems to work well when they're writing to other programmers or similar people on subjects where it works to break down and restructure.

When there's a fluffy amorphic subject that needs to be pounded from various different angles in order to gain a vague idea of what it is, this approach is not so good. Either you simplify it and miss the point or construct a hugely detailed model and they miss the point.

Also, most non-technical decisions (and many technical ones too, in the end...) aren't dictated solely by the razor-sharp rational intellect but a fuzzy mixture of feelings, reasons, and seemingly unrelated interrelations between people and people and other things.

On the other hand, most of what makes communication work is listening, not talking or writing.