exec-summary
Overview
Based on "The Pyramid Principle" by Barbara Minto. An executive summary is not a summary of what you did - it is a summary of what the reader needs to know and do. The SCQA structure (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer) establishes shared context, creates the tension that makes the reader care, and delivers the answer at the top before the evidence. Executives read the answer first. Everything else is support.
The key insight from Minto: the answer always goes first. Supporting arguments come after, in MECE groups. Never bury the recommendation at the end.
The SCQA Structure
Situation - What is true today (shared context, no controversy)
Complication - What has changed or is at risk (creates the tension)
Question - The question the complication raises (implicit or explicit)
Answer - The answer to that question (your main message)
The Situation and Complication together create the story that makes the reader feel the problem. The Answer is your main message - state it without qualification. Supporting arguments live in the body of the document, not the exec summary.