{"id":"lead-missed-deadline-owning-it-email","audience":"managers","category":"leadership-work","track":"leadership","level":"intermediate","technique":"tone","title":"Write a no-blame email owning a missed deadline","free":false,"task":"Write an email to the client contact, Ms. Ortega, in plain text, under 150 words. First line exactly: Subject: Revised delivery date for the audit report. In this order: own the miss in one sentence without blaming any person or other team, give the new date, say what changed to protect it, and offer a 15-minute call. Do not give the internal cause. End with the line: Sincerely, Hannah Cole.","materialLabel":"Internal notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Audit report - delivery slipped\n\n- Promised date: Fri, Nov 7. We missed it.\n- New committed date: Wed, Nov 19, 5:00 p.m. Eastern.\n- Internal cause: the data team's export was delayed by a week and Dave in Finance entered two numbers wrong. (Internal only.)\n- What we changed: a second reviewer now checks every table before it leaves us, and the report is built in two parts so Ms. Ortega gets part one (the summary) on Wed, Nov 12.\n- Ms. Ortega is Head of Compliance at Larch Insurance. She is polite but is presenting this to her board on Nov 24.\n- Offer: a 15-minute call this Friday or Monday to walk through the plan.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":150},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Giving the internal cause","why":"The AI explains the data delay.","fix":"Say: \"Do not give the internal cause or blame anyone.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"No protection for the date","why":"The AI just apologizes.","fix":"Say: \"Say what changed: the second reviewer and part one on Nov 12.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Wrong order","why":"The AI starts with excuses.","fix":"Say: \"Order: own it, new date, what changed, call offer.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Missing exact lines","why":"The AI writes its own subject and sign-off.","fix":"Say: \"First and last lines exactly as given.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Markdown","why":"The AI bolds the date.","fix":"Say: \"Plain text.\"","checks":["plainText"]},{"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":"Exact subject and sign-off","patterns":["subject: revised delivery","sincerely, hannah cole"]},{"label":"Ordering of parts","patterns":["in this order","own the miss","new date"]},{"label":"Bans blame","patterns":["without blaming","do not give","internal cause"]},{"label":"Offers a call","patterns":["15.minute call"]},{"label":"Caps words","patterns":["under 110 words"]}],"hint":"Give the exact first and last lines, the order of the four parts and what to leave out.","rubricLabels":["The first line is exactly \"Subject: Revised delivery date for the audit report\" and the last line is exactly \"Sincerely, Hannah Cole.\"","Owns the miss in one sentence with no blame and no internal cause (no mention of the data team, Dave or wrong numbers), then gives the new date Wednesday, Nov 19, 5:00 p.m. Eastern","Says what changed (a second reviewer and the summary part one on Nov 12) and offers a 15-minute call on Friday or Monday"]}