{"id":"lead-overspend-ledger-three-lines","audience":"managers","category":"leadership-work","track":"leadership","level":"intermediate","technique":"verification","title":"Explain a team overspend from a ledger in three labeled lines","free":false,"task":"Explain the overspend to your team in exactly three lines in plain text, starting \"Total over plan:\", \"Biggest driver:\" and \"Next step:\". Total over plan gives the dollar overage and the percent over plan, rounded to a whole percent. Biggest driver names the category with the largest overage, its dollars and its share of the total overage as a whole percent. Next step is the review meeting on Nov 20. Under 60 words.","materialLabel":"Ledger, in $k (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Team budget ledger, year to date (in $ thousands)\n\nCategory | Plan | Actual\nSoftware | 20 | 26\nTravel | 15 | 14\nTraining | 10 | 13\nContractors | 30 | 35\nSupplies | 5 | 4\n\nNotes: the software line includes a $4k annual license that was prepaid in October instead of January. Finance says it still counts in actuals.\nA review meeting is set for Nov 20, 3:00 p.m., in the small boardroom.\nThe team is feeling a bit defensive about the number.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":60},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Netting wrongly","why":"The AI ignores categories that came in under plan.","fix":"Say: \"Total is actual minus plan across all categories.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Wrong share","why":"The AI divides by the plan total.","fix":"Say: \"Share is the category overage divided by the total overage, whole percent.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"No percent","why":"The AI gives only dollars.","fix":"Say: \"Give the dollar overage and the percent over plan.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Commentary","why":"The AI adds opinions about the team or the license.","fix":"Say: \"Next step is the Nov 20 review meeting; no commentary.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Wrong format","why":"The AI writes a paragraph or table.","fix":"Say: \"Exactly three lines starting with those labels.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Markdown","why":"The AI bolds labels.","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":"Three labels","patterns":["total over plan:","biggest driver:","next step:"]},{"label":"Percent rounded","patterns":["whole percent","rounded"]},{"label":"Share of overage","patterns":["share","overage"]},{"label":"Next step date","patterns":["nov 20","review meeting"]},{"label":"Caps words","patterns":["under 60 words"]}],"hint":"Name the three lines and say exactly what numbers each must contain.","rubricLabels":["Has exactly three lines starting Total over plan:, Biggest driver: and Next step: in that order","Total over plan is $12k, 15 percent (plan 80, actual 92); Biggest driver is Software at $6k, 50 percent of the overage","Next step refers to the Nov 20 review meeting, and nothing blames a person or speculates about the prepaid license changing the answer"]}