How We Write Technical Strategy Memos

At CMMR we use short strategy memos to make hard product and technical decisions explicit.

Each memo should answer four questions:

1) What decision are we making?

Be precise. One memo, one decision.

2) What are the options?

List the realistic options and include tradeoffs.

3) Why this option now?

Tie rationale to current constraints: timeline, team capacity, and risk.

4) What does success look like?

Include measurable outcomes and a review date.

Memo Skeleton

# Decision

## Context
- What is changing?
- Why now?

## Options
1. Option A
2. Option B

## Decision
- Selected option
- Why

## Risks and Mitigations
- Risk 1 -> Mitigation

## Success Criteria
- Metric
- Review date

Good memos reduce rework and increase team trust. They are a small habit with large leverage.

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Blockquotes

The blockquote element represents content that is quoted from another source, optionally with a citation which must be within a footer or cite element, and optionally with in-line changes such as annotations and abbreviations.

Blockquote without attribution

Syntax

> Tiam, ad mint andaepu dandae nostion secatur sequo quae.  
> **Note** that you can use _Markdown syntax_ within a blockquote.

Output

Tiam, ad mint andaepu dandae nostion secatur sequo quae.
Note that you can use Markdown syntax within a blockquote.

Blockquote with attribution

Syntax

> Don't communicate by sharing memory, share memory by communicating.<br>
> — <cite>Rob Pike[^1]</cite>

Output

Don’t communicate by sharing memory, share memory by communicating.
— Rob Pike1

Tables

Syntax

| Italics   | Bold     | Code   |
| --------- | -------- | ------ |
| _italics_ | **bold** | `code` |

Output

ItalicsBoldCode
italicsboldcode

Code Blocks

Syntax

we can use 3 backticks ``` in new line and write snippet and close with 3 backticks on new line and to highlight language specific syntax, write one word of language name after first 3 backticks, for eg. html, javascript, css, markdown, typescript, txt, bash

```html
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
	<head>
		<meta charset="utf-8" />
		<title>Example HTML5 Document</title>
	</head>
	<body>
		<p>Test</p>
	</body>
</html>
```

Output

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
	<head>
		<meta charset="utf-8" />
		<title>Example HTML5 Document</title>
	</head>
	<body>
		<p>Test</p>
	</body>
</html>

List Types

Ordered List

Syntax

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item

Output

  1. First item
  2. Second item
  3. Third item

Unordered List

Syntax

- List item
- Another item
- And another item

Output

  • List item
  • Another item
  • And another item

Nested list

Syntax

- Fruit
  - Apple
  - Orange
  - Banana
- Dairy
  - Milk
  - Cheese

Output

  • Fruit
    • Apple
    • Orange
    • Banana
  • Dairy
    • Milk
    • Cheese

Other Elements — abbr, sub, sup, kbd, mark

Syntax

<abbr title="Graphics Interchange Format">GIF</abbr> is a bitmap image format.

H<sub>2</sub>O

X<sup>n</sup> + Y<sup>n</sup> = Z<sup>n</sup>

Press <kbd>CTRL</kbd> + <kbd>ALT</kbd> + <kbd>Delete</kbd> to end the session.

Most <mark>salamanders</mark> are nocturnal, and hunt for insects, worms, and other small creatures.

Output

GIF is a bitmap image format.

H2O

Xn + Yn = Zn

Press CTRL + ALT + Delete to end the session.

Most salamanders are nocturnal, and hunt for insects, worms, and other small creatures.

Footnotes

  1. The above quote is excerpted from Rob Pike’s talk during Gopherfest, November 18, 2015. ↩