A simple structure for any communication where you need to land a point — presentations, memos, proposals, even important emails. --- ## The structure **Situation** — where we are. Establish the context your audience already knows and agrees with. This is common ground. **Complication** — what changed, or what's wrong. This creates tension. Without a complication, there's no reason to act. **Question** — what we need to decide. Often implicit, but useful to state clearly. "So the question is: how do we respond?" **Answer** — what we should do. Your recommendation, supported by the logic that follows. --- ## The complication earns the recommendation Most weak communications skip straight from situation to answer. "Here's the context, here's what I think we should do." The complication is why anyone should care. Skip it and you're just announcing — not persuading. --- ## Variations **Answer first.** For executive audiences, lead with the answer, then backfill the SCQ as justification. They want the recommendation upfront; the structure still applies underneath. **Implicit question.** Sometimes the question is obvious from the complication. Don't force it if it reads awkwardly. **Multiple complications.** Complex situations might have several. Group them, or pick the most important one to lead with. --- ## Example **Weak:** "Our NPS has dropped 15 points. I recommend we invest in customer success." **Stronger:** - **S:** We've grown 40% this year and expanded into three new segments. - **C:** But NPS has dropped 15 points, and churn in the new segments is 2x our core business. We're acquiring customers we can't retain. - **Q:** How do we fix retention before it undermines the growth? - **A:** Invest in customer success for new segments — dedicated onboarding, health scoring, proactive outreach. Same recommendation. The second version earns it. --- See also: [[Notes/Vertical Logic|Vertical Logic]] for structuring the argument beneath the answer, [[Notes/Clear Writing|Clear Writing]] for the mechanics.