When a Senior Person Will Not Read It
A senior stakeholder won't read the doc. Three reasons — no time, no trust, no incentive — each with its own repair, and the paragraph that fits in a message.
Manager
Writing Up for a Skip-Level Who Has Nine Minutes
A status update for an executive two levels up, written against a fixed reading budget — and the one line that survives being forwarded without you.
Reporting Red Before Anyone Asks
The update that says a project is at risk, written before anyone asked — with the ask that makes it act, and the sentence most people delete out of fear.
Your Weekly Update, Written for Someone Who Skims
One weekly update to a manager, shown before and after a rewrite for a reader who reads the first line and stops. The rewrite is mostly reordering.