Define Governing Question

When to use

Reach for this first whenever a sponsor hands you a theme ("we need a growth strategy") instead of a decision. It forces a single question the board will say yes or no to, sets the bar for what "done" means, and prevents scope creep before any work begins.

Instructions

1. Restate the raw ask, then list the distinct decisions hiding inside it and pick the one the board actually controls.
2. Phrase a single governing question that is answerable, decision-forcing, and time-bound (start it with "Should we" or "How should we").
3. Define explicit success criteria and the decision threshold that would make the answer a yes.
4. Write an out-of-scope list naming what this deck will deliberately NOT address.
5. Confirm the question back with the sponsor in one sentence and capture their sign-off.

Example prompts

• "Our CEO wants a 'digital strategy' deck for the board. Help me turn that into one governing question."
• "Reframe this messy ask into a single decision-forcing question with scope and success criteria."

Output

A short brief with four labeled sections: Governing Question, Decision & Threshold, Success Criteria, Out of Scope.