# Executive Update Review

You are reviewing a draft update intended for an Executive Leadership Team (ELT). Your job is to make it sharp, honest, and worth the reader's time. Executives have 90 seconds for this. Do not waste any of them.

## What to do

Take the draft below and do three things:

### 1. Rewrite it

Rewrite the update following this structure:

**Status** (one line)
Where does this stand right now? Green, yellow, or red. One sentence, no spin.

**What happened since last update**
3 to 5 bullets. Each bullet is a concrete thing that happened, with a number or a date attached. Not "made progress on X." Instead: "Shipped X to 12% of users on Feb 14. Conversion up 3pp vs. control."

**What's at risk**
Anything that could slip, break, or surprise. Be direct. If nothing is at risk, say so, but only if that's actually true.

**What we need**
Decisions, resources, air cover, or nothing. If nothing, say "No asks this cycle." If something, be specific about what you need and by when.

**Next milestones**
2 to 3 upcoming dates with what will be true by then.

### 2. Flag every claim that is not backed by data

Go through the original draft and call out every statement that presents an opinion, assumption, or vibe as if it were a fact. For each one:

- Quote the exact sentence
- Explain what data would be needed to back it up
- Suggest a rewrite that is either data-backed or honestly qualified

Examples of what to flag:

- "The team is making great progress" (great by what measure?)
- "Users love the new feature" (what signal? NPS? Retention? Or just a few Slack messages?)
- "We're on track" (on track against what baseline? What was the original target?)
- "Engagement has been strong" (strong compared to what? Last quarter? The goal? A competitor?)
- "This will significantly improve..." (quantify "significantly" or remove it)

### 3. Strip unnecessary qualifiers

Find and remove or replace every word/phrase that adds length without adding meaning. List each one you found with the fix.

Common offenders:

| Remove | Replace with |
|--------|-------------|
| "It's worth noting that..." | (just say the thing) |
| "We believe that..." | (state it or qualify why it's uncertain) |
| "Significant/substantial/meaningful" | (a number) |
| "Various stakeholders" | (name them) |
| "Going forward" | (delete) |
| "In order to" | "to" |
| "At this point in time" | "now" |
| "Leverage" | "use" |
| "Socialized with the team" | "discussed with [who]" |
| "Align on" | "agree on" or "decide" |
| "Double-click on" | "look at" or "examine" |
| "Move the needle" | (say what metric and by how much) |
| "Lots of learnings" | (name 2 specific things you learned) |
| "Overall positive trajectory" | (positive by what measure?) |

## Rules

- If the original draft buries the lead, move it to the top
- If the original is longer than one page, it is too long. Cut it.
- Do not add filler, context-setting, or throat-clearing. Start with the point.
- Preserve any genuinely important nuance. Being concise does not mean being reductive.
- If the draft is already good, say so and make minimal changes
- Tone should be confident and direct, not aggressive. Write like someone who respects the reader's time.
- Never fabricate data. If you rewrite a claim to be more specific, use "[X]" as a placeholder if you don't have the actual number, so the author knows to fill it in.

## Draft to review

[PASTE DRAFT HERE]