SCQA Prompt Framework: Briefs and Memos the Boss Reads

Study guide

SCQA Prompts: Briefs the Boss Reads

Most memos fail for one reason. The recommendation is buried at the end, after background and analysis, and the reader stops before reaching it. This course teaches SCQA, a structure from Barbara Minto's pyramid principle, developed at McKinsey, that puts the answer first and supports it underneath. Situation, Complication, Question, Answer. Each line earns the next one, and the reader can stop after the top line and still know what you recommend.

You will learn to use SCQA as a prompt framework. You supply the facts for each slot, and the AI shapes them into a clean brief instead of inventing a structure or inventing your background. The course is for busy, non technical professionals who write updates, proposals, briefings and one page memos for decision makers. Every lesson shows the why, the how, a worked example from a real job, and the mistake that ruins most drafts.

What is a prompt framework?

A prompt is the request you type into an AI tool such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. A prompt framework is a reusable structure for that request: a short checklist of the parts a good prompt contains, usually named with an acronym so it is easy to remember. Why it helps: the AI fills in whatever you leave out with generic guesses. A framework makes sure you include the parts that change the answer, such as who it is for, what you want to achieve and the format you need.

Frameworks make prompts repeatable: you fill the same parts each time, save the prompt as a template and share it with colleagues. They are not magic words: the value comes from the detail you put in each part. They help most when a request is complex or open to interpretation; a quick, simple question can stay short. There are well over sixty named frameworks, and most of them remix the same ingredients: role, task, context, audience, format, constraints and examples.

In this course you learn SCQA, which is a fill-in-the-slots framework: an acronym where each letter stands for one part of your prompt. It is best for: executive summaries, memos and briefs for decision makers.

The pyramid principle and why answer first works

The pyramid principle comes from Barbara Minto, developed at McKinsey. Its core rule is to lead with the answer and then support it, rather than building up to the answer at the end. A pyramid has three levels. The answer sits on top, the reasons sit beneath it, and the facts and data form the base. A reader can stop after the top line and still know what you recommend.

SCQA stands for Situation, Complication, Question, Answer. It is the classic opening of a brief that a busy reader actually finishes, because each line earns the next one. The Situation sets shared ground the reader already accepts. The Complication introduces what changed or what is now at risk, which creates the tension the memo resolves. The Question is the one the complication raises. The Answer is your recommendation.

As a prompt framework, SCQA gives the AI a proven shape for any decision memo. You supply the facts for each slot, and the model fills the structure instead of inventing one. Labelling the slots in your prompt, Situation, Complication, Question, Answer, turns the prompt itself into an outline. That keeps the AI's output on structure and on length.

Situation: a short, uncontroversial floor

The Situation is the stable background everyone agrees on. It describes where we are today, not where we want to be. If a reader could reasonably dispute it, it is not a Situation. Keep it to two or three facts. Length invites argument and buries the point. A short floor is a solid floor.

Never ask the AI to generate the Situation from nothing. Without your facts the model will invent plausible numbers and context, and plausible is not true. Your job is to be the source of facts. The AI's job is to shape those facts into clean, neutral sentences. Keep those two roles separate in every prompt.

Anything you want to argue about later belongs in the Complication, not the Situation. The Situation sets the shared ground, the Complication creates the tension. A good test before you send: read your Situation aloud and ask whether anyone in the room would say no. If yes, cut it or move it.

Complication: the tension that makes them read

The Complication is the second box in SCQA. It states what changed or what is at risk, and it is the reason the memo exists at all. A sharp Complication creates tension. Tension is what makes a busy reader stop and keep reading. Without it, your recommendation has no urgency behind it.

Quantify the Complication when you can. Costs up 18% in two quarters is a fact the reader can size. Costs are a concern is a feeling they can ignore. A weak Complication often reads like a second Situation. If nothing moved and nothing is at risk, you have described normal life, not a complication.

Place the Complication early. If it sits in paragraph three, the reader has already decided the memo is routine and moved on. In a prompt, give the AI a specific change and a number in the Complication slot. Vague input produces a vague memo, no matter how good the tool is.

Question and Answer: one decision, three reasons

The question is not chosen by you. It is the one the complication raises, usually some version of what should we do about it. One complication should produce one question, so the reader always knows what is being decided. The answer is your recommendation, stated first and plainly. It goes at the top of the brief, before any background or analysis, so a busy reader gets your point in the first line.

Support the answer with exactly three reasons. Three is enough to be convincing and few enough to remember. More than three dilutes the point and invites the reader to argue with the weakest one. When prompting, add the instruction to keep the answer to one sentence before any detail. This stops the AI from warming up with context and forces the recommendation to the front.

This structure follows the pyramid principle. The answer sits at the top, the three reasons sit underneath, and each reason can carry its own evidence without burying the main point. A common failure is hiding the answer at the end after a long build up. The reader stops before reaching it. Put the answer first, then let the reasons earn it.

Prompting SCQA well: notes, audience, two lengths

Give the AI your raw notes rather than a half written draft. The AI is good at arranging material and bad at knowing facts it was never given, so the notes are what keeps the output honest. Name the audience in the prompt. A CFO wants numbers, a board wants risk, a team wants next steps. The same facts produce a different memo for each, and the AI cannot guess which one you need.

Ask for a one paragraph version and a one page version in the same prompt. The paragraph tests whether the argument holds. The page carries the supporting detail for anyone who wants it. The structure instruction has two parts. Arrange as SCQA, then put the supporting points underneath as a pyramid, grouped so each group answers the layer above it.

Three prompt failures cover most bad output. No raw notes means invented facts. No audience means a memo for nobody. No length means a wall of text. One prompt line fixes all three. Keep the prompt short and plain. Notes, structure, audience, length, tone. You do not need a long prompt, you need the four ingredients present every time.

SCQA in your job: habits, checks and a pre-mortem

Answer first is the rule that separates a brief the boss reads from a draft they skim. If the recommendation is not in the first two lines, move it there before you send anything. AI drafts tend to build up to the point. They explain background, then reveal the recommendation late. You fix this with one instruction: state the answer in the first line.

A pre-mortem asks how the recommendation could fail. Add the mitigation to the same document so the reader sees both the risk and your plan for it. The four SCQA slots give the AI labelled places to put your content. Situation, Complication, Question, Answer. Labelled slots stop the model from drifting into general commentary.

Use the same prompt shape every time. Role, four slots, answer first, word limit. A repeatable prompt turns SCQA from a technique into a habit you do not have to think about. SCQA works on any short document with a decision in it. Updates, proposals, briefings, and one page memos all benefit from the same four moves and the same answer first rule.

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