{"id":"lead-strategy-memo-four-headings","audience":"executives","category":"leadership-work","track":"leadership","level":"intermediate","technique":"format","title":"Turn offsite notes into a one-page strategy memo","free":false,"task":"You run Harlow Supply, a regional restaurant-supply distributor, and you need a one-page strategy memo for the board portal, which only accepts plain text. Use exactly four headings, each on its own line ending with a colon and in this order: Where we are:, Where we're going:, What we'll stop:, What we need:. Put at most 2 bullets under each heading, each bullet is one sentence under 18 words, and the memo is under 200 words, and no bold or # symbols. Use the corrected numbers from the notes.","materialLabel":"Offsite notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Leadership offsite - Oct 14, notes by Dev (COO)\n\nRevenue this year: $18.2M, up 6%. Growth is all from independent restaurants; hotel accounts are flat.\nCustomer retention: 92% (Dev). CORRECTION from Lena in finance, Oct 16: retention is 88%, the 92% figure double-counted reactivated accounts.\n\nBig theme: we're spread too thin. 4,100 SKUs and the top 900 make 81% of revenue.\nAgreed direction: become the fastest supplier for independent restaurants in the tri-county area. Goal: next-day delivery for 95% of orders by end of next year (today 71%).\n\nThings we agreed to stop:\n- The custom catering-equipment line (loses ~$140k a year)\n- Saturday deliveries (3% of orders, highest cost per stop)\n\nLong debate about buying a second truck fleet vs leasing. No decision, parked for Q1.\n\nWhat we need:\n- A second dispatcher (posting approved, ~$62k)\n- New routing software, budget up to $45k, Marco owns the vendor shortlist\n\nRandom: the parking lot repaving is done. Holiday party is Dec 12.\nAlso someone asked if we should open in the next state over. Everyone said not this year.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":200},{"type":"maxBullets","max":8},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Letting the AI pick the headings","why":"The AI invents its own sections like 'Executive Summary' and 'Strategic Pillars'.","fix":"List them: \"Use exactly these 4 headings, in this order: Where we are:, ...\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Using the first number you see","why":"The AI often grabs the 92% retention figure and misses the correction two lines later.","fix":"Add: \"Use the corrected figures (retention is 88%).\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Treating parked ideas as plans","why":"The AI rounds up a debate into a decision to sound decisive.","fix":"Add: \"The fleet decision is parked; leave out the new-state idea.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Formatting for a doc editor","why":"The AI adds # headings and bold, which show as symbols in a plain text field.","fix":"Say: \"Plain text. Headings are plain lines ending in a colon. No bold or #.\"","checks":["plainText"]},{"title":"Writing long bullet lists","why":"Left alone, the AI lists every note under every heading.","fix":"Cap it: \"At most 2 bullets per heading, each under 15 words.\"","checks":["maxBullets"]},{"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: \"each line under 15 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the four headings","patterns":["where we are","what we'?ll stop","headings"]},{"label":"Caps the bullets","patterns":["\\b(2|two)\\b.{0,20}bullet","bullet.{0,20}\\b(2|two)\\b"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","one page"]},{"label":"Asks for plain text","patterns":["plain text","no bold","no markdown","no #"]},{"label":"Uses the corrected figures","patterns":["correct","88","updated"]}],"hint":"A board memo is easier to read when it has a fixed shape. Give the AI the exact headings, the bullet limit and the plain-text rule, and tell it which numbers were corrected.","rubricLabels":["Uses exactly the four headings in this order, each on its own line: Where we are:, Where we're going:, What we'll stop:, What we need:","If retention is mentioned, it is 88% (not 92%); the direction states next-day delivery for 95% of orders (from 71% today)","What we'll stop names both the custom catering-equipment line and Saturday deliveries; the memo does not present the truck fleet decision or a new-state expansion as decided"]}