Writing for people who will not ask a follow-up question
An executive summary is read only once, by a person who has no way to ask what a term means. Any ambiguity produces a misinterpretation rather than a question.
The writing itself has to change. Internal shorthand has to be expanded. Metrics need definitions. The reason for any number that changed must sit next to the number, not in an appendix.
The writing is harder than a simple selection of figures. Each page contains around six figures. Choosing which six is a judgment about what the reader actually decides from, not about which figures the team spent the most time on.
How bad news is presented is the best test of a document. If a summary puts the shortfall in the final paragraph, it is meant to let the reader skim past it. The reader soon notices that.
How the ActionFlow runs on the canvas
Figures from each source are gathered in parallel. HTTP Request nodes pull the external panels. PostgreSQL pulls the internal tables. HubSpot or Salesforce pull the commercial figures. A Merge node then waits for all of them.
A Google Sheets node provides the target for each metric together with its plain-language definition. Without a target, a number cannot be described as good or bad. A Math node calculates performance relative to the target and the previous period.
A Generate Object node selects the few metrics that matter for this period. For each, it provides the variance, the definition, and whether the metric is ahead or behind. It is told to include the worst result regardless of anything else it selects, so it cannot simply omit that result.
A Generate Text node produces the page under a strict length limit. It expands internal terms. It moves any shortfalls to the beginning rather than the end.
A Google Docs node produces the document. A Notion node archives it. A Slack node notifies recipients with the headline in the message itself, which is why the page is optional and not mandatory.
Nodes this ActionFlow uses
- HTTP Request (Util): pulls external panels. PostgreSQL and Salesforce cover internal and commercial figures.
- Merge (Control): waits for every source before selection begins.
- Google Sheets (Integration): supplies targets and plain-language definitions per metric.
- Math (Util): computes variance against target and against the prior period.
- Generate Object (AI Core): selects the few metrics that matter, and must include the worst result.
- Generate Text (AI Core): writes under a hard length cap with shortfalls placed first.
- Google Docs (Integration): produces the page. Notion archives it.
- Slack (Communication): notifies recipients with the headline in the message itself.
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