{"id":"exec-bottom-line-first-memo-rewrite","audience":"executives","category":"leadership-work","track":"leadership","level":"beginner","technique":"audience","title":"Rewrite a rambling memo with the bottom line first","free":false,"task":"Rewrite the memo for the CEO in plain text, under 70 words. The first line starts \"Bottom line:\" and states the decision you need and the date. Then exactly 3 dash bullets giving the three reasons, each with a number from the memo. Do not include the history of the vendor or the background story.","materialLabel":"Rambling draft memo (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Draft memo from the Head of IT\n\nBack in 2019 we first signed with DataVault after a long search that included a trip to their offices, and over the years the relationship has been fine, although there have been a few issues with support, which I should note started after the founders sold the company in 2022. Anyway, I wanted to bring up that I think we should move our backups to CloudStore and I need your decision by Friday, Nov 21 because the DataVault renewal auto-renews on Dec 1. The reasons are that CloudStore costs $38,000 a year versus $52,000 now, restores in about 20 minutes where DataVault takes around 4 hours, and its uptime has been 99.99 percent over the last 12 months compared with 99.7 percent for DataVault. Migration would take about three weeks and I have a plan. I also heard CloudStore is expanding to Europe, but that is not relevant.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":70}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Burying the ask","why":"The AI starts with the history.","fix":"Say: \"First line starts Bottom line: with the decision and date.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Keeping the story","why":"The AI includes the 2019 trip.","fix":"Say: \"Do not include the history or background.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Reasons without numbers","why":"The AI writes cheaper and faster.","fix":"Say: \"Each bullet has a number from the memo.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"More than three bullets","why":"The AI adds migration and Europe.","fix":"Say: \"Exactly 3 dash bullets.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Too long","why":"The AI keeps a long explanation.","fix":"Say: \"Under 70 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it.","fix":"Cap each part instead, for example: \"each line under 15 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Bottom line first","patterns":["bottom line:","first line"]},{"label":"Decision and date","patterns":["decision","nov 21","date"]},{"label":"Three bullets with numbers","patterns":["3 dash","exactly 3","number"]},{"label":"Leave out history","patterns":["history","background"]},{"label":"Caps words","patterns":["under 90 words"]}],"hint":"Say what the first line must hold, how many bullets, and what to leave out.","rubricLabels":["The first line starts with \"Bottom line:\" and asks for a decision by Friday, Nov 21 on moving backups to CloudStore","Has exactly three dash bullets: the cost of $38,000 versus $52,000, the restore time of 20 minutes versus about 4 hours, and uptime of 99.99 percent versus 99.7 percent","The 2019 history, the founders selling the company and the Europe expansion do not appear"]}