Module 1 · Structure

The four blocks

The shape of a note that produces a decision rather than a meeting.

Reading ~7 minLesson 1 of 5

DOI-native

Most escalations fail for one reason: the reader cannot tell what is being asked of them. They reply 'let's discuss', a meeting appears, and two days are gone.

Four blocks, in this order

Situation — one or two sentences of fact, no interpretation.
Impact — who or what is affected, by when, and how much.
Decision needed — the specific choice you want made, with options where they exist.
Already tried — what you did before escalating, so no one repeats it.

Situation: The client's data feed has been failing since Tuesday 14:00.
Impact: Monday's report cannot be produced; two teams lose their weekly view.
Decision needed: Approve a manual export this week (about 4 hours of my time), or accept a one-week gap.
Already tried: Re-ran the sync twice, confirmed credentials, raised a ticket with their IT (no reply in 36 hours).

If the reader can act with a one-word reply, the note is doing its job.

What to leave out

Blame, names of individuals as culprits, or anything you would not say to them directly
Full chronology — keep it to what shapes the decision
Your feelings about the situation; keep the assessment factual

Key takeaways

Name the decision you want, explicitly
Impact is quantified where possible
'Already tried' prevents wasted repetition

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