Templates · Strategy & planning
Amazon 6-Pager (narrative memo) template
For any major proposal or strategy review. Origin: Amazon S-team format since 2004; replaces slides, read silently at the start of the meeting.
Sections
- Introduction & purpose
- Tenets
- State of the business
- Lessons learned
- Strategic priorities
- Plan, resources & milestones
- Asks
- Appendix / FAQ
How a tough reader scores it
When you score a draft against this format, the Critic evaluates this Amazon 6-pager. The weights add up to 100; the fixes for the weakest criteria arrive as cards in the editor.
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Clarity of purpose and decision sought in first paragraph | 15 |
| Tenets are specific and would settle real disagreements | 10 |
| Data rigor — input metrics, baselines, YoY, sources | 20 |
| Narrative logic — each section follows from the prior, no bullet-dumping | 15 |
| Lessons learned are candid, including failures | 10 |
| Plan is dated, owned, and resourced | 15 |
| FAQ anticipates the hardest questions | 10 |
| Concision — within 6 pages, no filler | 5 |
How it works in SecondPen.ai
Open the template and the editor writes the blank once, with a line of guidance under each heading that you delete as you fill it in. Write your abstract and the editor names the format it reads like. Ask for a document with a slash command and it offers to start from the matching format. When the draft is ready, the Critic scores it against the criteria above, the way this format's toughest reader would, and the three highest-leverage fixes become Editor cards.
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