executive-summary

# Executive Summary ## Cardinal Rule An executive summary that requires the reader to read the supporting document is not a summary; the summary IS the deliverable. Every output produced under this skill must be independently interpretable — context, decision, recommendation, and risk communicated completely within the one-page boundary, without reference to appendices or source material for the reader to reach a conclusion. All outputs are subject to the two-pass review gate (ADR-058). ## Fail-Fast Rule Stop and return a structured failure when any of the following is true: - No decision or action is identified; the requester cannot articulate what a reader must decide or do after reading. - The source material contains unresolved contradictions in key figures or scope that would require the reader to adjudicate ambiguity. - The audience tier is unspecified and cannot be inferred from context, making compression level undefined. - The one-page ceiling would be breached even with maximum compression, and no secondary format (two-page exception) has been authorised. - Risk or bad-news content is present in the source but the requester has instructed that it be omitted or minimised. Never produce a summary over an unresolved factual contradiction. Never omit material risk at requester direction. ## When to Apply Apply when: converting a detailed analysis, audit, or status report into a board-ready one-page summary; drafting a decision memo for a C-suite reader...