Big Chief

Big Chief's billing memo worked once it answered the reader's question. John J. Jackson's first memo on recording Big Chief's delivery tickets on a computer disk explained how the system would work, which would cut a five-week billing cycle to one day. It never said whether to accept. The rewrite answered yes, with three reasons: needed information, better cash flow and less work.

The fix was to write down the Subject, the Question in the reader's mind and the Answer, then test them by stating the Situation and Complication. If the Complication does not raise that Question, change the Question or rethink the Complication. Quote: "The purpose of the entire exercise is to make sure you know what Question it is you are trying to answer."