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Writing and communication

Executive summary

Produce a concise decision-ready executive summary, one-pager, leadership brief, or plain-English distillation from research, findings, a transcript, a proposal, or other source material. Use when the reader is time-constrained and needs the recommendation, evidence, uncertainty, and next step without working through the full source.

Works with the context you provideVersion 3.2.2

Executive summary

Distill source material into a forwardable brief for a named decision-maker. The brief should make the recommendation and evidence easy to inspect without pretending that uncertainty has disappeared. This method creates draft content; writing a file, distributing it, or updating another system requires the host's normal explicit approval path.

Scope

Use supplied material by default. A request about a topic with no source artifact may use a focused research pass: collect only enough current, primary-source evidence for four to nine specific findings, capture each URL, and do not expand it into a landscape study. Confirm only what is needed to make the summary useful:

  • reader and the decision, awareness, or approval the brief should support;
  • whether the request is status-only or should recommend an action;
  • desired length and any terminology the reader already understands; and
  • source reliability, dates, and missing evidence.

Classify the source material before drafting: its source shape (research, transcript, proposal, status report, or mixed record), the material it can support, and whether the user wants a status-only brief or a recommendation. If the source does not support a clear recommendation, say that plainly. A status update does not need a manufactured decision ask.

Workflow

1. **Ingest.** Handle a supplied file, pasted material, or a researchable topic with no artifact. Separate documented facts, observations, assumptions, and open questions. Preserve source links and citations as you read. 2. **Lock the spine.** If the user has not supplied a recommendation for a decision brief, offer two or three evidence-bounded one-sentence candidates and obtain their selection, edit, or replacement before drafting. If the evidence cannot support one, say the brief is premature rather than invent a recommendation. For status-only work, write one accurate bottom line and state that the brief is not a recommendation. 3. **Translate.** Before drafting, identify the reader's working vocabulary and replace unnecessary technical language with the plainest accurate wording; retain terms the reader must recognize. 4. **Distill.** Include only the facts that change the decision, the key exposure or tradeoff, and the practical next step. 5. **Verify.** Re-check every external or vendor claim against its primary source and ensure every cited URL supports the nearby claim. 6. **Confirm the brief.** Before creating a durable artifact or representing it as final, present the bottom line, recommendation or status-only designation, material uncertainty, and next step for the user's confirmation.

Output structure

```markdown # [Brief title]

## Bottom line [Status or one recommendation, qualified by evidence]

## What changed / why this matters - [Decision-relevant fact and source]

## Recommendations or findings 1. **[Action or finding].** [What is true, what is exposed, and why it matters.]

## Suggested next step [One concrete, proportionate next action]

## Sources - [Source title](URL) — [claim supported] ```

For a two-sentence brief, retain only the bottom line and next step. Do not add sections merely to satisfy the template.

Quality and boundaries

- Preserve material uncertainty, conflicting evidence, and missing measures. - A decision brief has exactly one selected, evidence-supported recommendation and Bottom Line spine; candidate recommendations exist only before selection. - Cite every source-backed claim inline beside the claim as well as in Sources. - State the scope limit when the brief distills incomplete, dated, or decision-support material; a concise brief does not substitute for the underlying analysis or professional judgment. - Do not infer customer-specific configuration, financial impact, or behavior from a general product description. - Avoid preamble, consultant filler, and unexplained jargon. - Do not create a file, send the brief, or log a commercial activity unless the user separately asks and the host provides an approved path.