Part III of three · The House, with a job to do.
The Brief
Twelve questions for one piece of work: the problem, who it is for, what gets made, where it runs, and how you will know it worked. Not about the firm; about the job in front of it. A sitting.
Nothing is saved unless you turn this on.
- What you write stays in this browser, unless you bring an assistant. Nothing typed here is sent to this site or to anyone. Saving is off until you turn it on, and then it is on this device only. An assistant you choose to work with sees what you tell it; the page still sends nothing.
- Write plainly. The questions want the actual answer, not the one for the website. Nobody reads this but you, until you hand it to someone.
- The print is the copy. Print it, or take the answers with you as a file. A blank copy prints too, for a table and a pen.
An assistant can ask you these questions in conversation and hand you the answers. It then sees what you tell it, and so does the company that runs it: that is the one way anything here leaves this device, and only if you choose it. This page still sends nothing.
To begin: give an assistant the address brianthackston.com/exercises/brief/assistant and ask it to walk you through The Brief. There is nothing to install. If it cannot open an address, and paste it in.
The BriefPart III of three
The Brief
The House, with a job to do.
Twelve questions for one piece of work: the problem, who it is for, what gets made, where it runs, and how you will know it worked. Not about the firm; about the job in front of it.
This copy belongs to
So that a printed copy, or one handed to someone else, says whose answers these are.
The eleven sections
- IThe ProblemBusiness problem
- IIThe AudienceWho this is for
- IIIThe MarketMarket context
- IVThe InsightStrategic insight
- VThe BehaviorsExpected behaviors
- VIThe PlacementsWhere it runs
- VIIThe DeliverablesWhat gets made
- VIIIThe MandatoriesNon-negotiables
- IXThe ReferencesPoints of comparison
- XThe MetricsSuccess metrics
- XIThe FunnelFunnel position
Write plainly: the actual answer, not the one for the website. A question may be left blank. You leave with the one document a stranger can act on without a meeting.
The Problem
Not “we need a campaign.” The condition: the referral source drying up, the practice nobody knows you have, the fee pressure. One paragraph, plain.
The Audience
Name them as people, not a segment: the general counsel who has never heard of you, the injured person searching at 2am. What do they already believe?
The Market
What everyone else is saying, what has changed in the last year, and what the audience is tired of hearing.
The Insight
The tension, the unspoken worry, the thing they want but won’t ask for. If it isn’t a little uncomfortable, it isn’t an insight yet.
The Behaviors
Calls, books, refers, stops doing something. Name the action and the moment it happens.
The Placements
Where will this appear?
Tick what you will actually fund and staff, not what you wish you could.
Budgets, dates, a channel that has burned you before.
The Deliverables
List the artifacts: a page, a sequence of emails, a deck, a 30-second cut. Dates if they exist.
The Mandatories
Disclaimers, bar rules, the partner’s name, the logo lockup, the words you never use. Part I’s Hall of Voice and Part II’s prohibitions belong here.
The References
Name work you admire, inside or outside law, and the near-miss you are steering away from.
The Metrics
A number and a date. Consultations booked, qualified calls, cost per matter — whatever you will actually check.
The Funnel
Where in the funnel does this work sit?
One answer. Work that tries to do all four does none.
That’s everything.
The brief is the one document a stranger can act on without a meeting. You now have one — and the House it describes is one you have already mapped and drawn.
What you’ve filled in
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