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Pull a clean decision log out of messy meeting notes

Practice: Keeping the AI to your sources. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

You lead the onboarding team at Pinewood Logistics and keep a decision log in a shared doc. From Tuesday's planning notes, you want exactly 4 numbered lines, one per final decision, each written as Decision - decided by - date, under 70 words in total, plain text. Only log what was actually decided: if the group changed its mind, log the final call, and leave out open questions. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Asking for "the decisions". The AI lists every topic discussed, decided or not, with bold labels. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 4 numbered lines, only final decisions."
  • Not giving the line format. Without a shape, lines lose who decided or the date. Try: Add: "Write each line as Decision - decided by - date."
  • Missing the reversal. The AI logs the first answer it sees and misses that the vendor choice flipped at the end. Try: Add: "If a decision changed later in the meeting, log only the final call."
  • Logging open questions. The AI treats 'we'll revisit' as a decision because it was discussed at length. Try: Add: "Leave out anything not decided."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 70 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 12 words."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Says how many lines
  • Gives the line format
  • Handles the reversal
  • Skips open questions
  • Sets a word limit

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