From my experience it really depends. I've worked as a programmer and product manager as well as a Manager of hundreds of engineers and product managers. Readi

From my experience it really depends. I've worked as a programmer and product manager as well as a Manager of hundreds of engineers and product managers. Reading a lot of text is only one way of getting information to perform your job. For instance, some of the best programmers and engineers I managed knew how to have good discussions and the right questions to ask. Often times user stories are the foundation of that interaction and they are extremely short and organized. As someone else mentioned here, technical learning is very structured and most engineers I know read a little, try it out and then read more if they need more help. As long as reading a lot of text is not the main form of how you get information and learn then you can probably be OK as a programmer. If you are looking ahead and wanted to engage in other roles then you should invest time to become confident with that form of information.