The tips I've shared from writing for and editing the President’s Daily Brief can help anyone writing for busy decision-makers, but are also specific to intelligence analysis. I realized that I modify them for my current job in tech policy. So, I thought it might be useful to describe what I’ve found to be the same, and different, in policy vs. intelligence writing.
I’ll do that in this post. And for the Star Wars nerds among you, read to the end to see how this might play out on a key issue for the Jedi Council.
1. Similarities: Clear, Convincing, and Concise
Before getting to the differences, let’s start with what doesn’t change. No matter your purpose, you need to: clearly communicate your main point; substantiate it effectively; and do this in the fewest, simplest, and most neutral words possible. I covered this in a previous post, but some key points:
Bottom Line Up Front: Put the main point in the title/subject and first sentence, so that a busy reader can get the basics from that alone.
Support Your Argument: Include the key additional information needed to substantiate your main point, so readers believe you.
Use Precise But Simple Language: Say exactly what you mean without big or extra words, and avoid language that is subjective.
2. Inform vs. Recommend
Ok with those basics aside, to explain the differences in intel vs. policy writing, we have to examine the different purposes of both.
In intelligence, the purpose is to inform. You’re trying to provide an unbiased assessment that’s useful to decision-makers.
In policy, the purpose is to recommend. Here, your job is to have a point of view and persuade decision-makers to follow your plan.
Of course, I am way over-simplifying. But at the highest level, I’ve found these to be the two, distinct purposes that drive different writing approaches.
3. What’s in a Bottom Line?
With the inform/recommend distinction in mind, we turn to different ways of writing a bottom line.
In intel, the bottom line focuses on “what” and “so what.” Basically, what’s the thing that is happening, and why is it important? This conveys that there’s something going on, but doesn’t recommend a course of action.
In policy, the bottom line is more often “here’s what we recommend,” or maybe, “we need to make a decision on X.” The goal is to make sure the principal knows what decision needs to be made, and drive to action.
4. Explaining Uncertainty vs. Evaluating Options
Another key difference I’ve found is the amount of focus on explaining uncertainty. This is a key part of substantiating your bottom line in intel writing (see my previous post on this here.) However in policy, I find the focus is instead on laying out options, rather than diving deep on what we know and don’t know.
If you think about it, this makes sense. For intel, it’s really important to unpack what you know and don’t know, and why. In contrast, for policy, what you know and don’t know is important, but more as context for options to consider.
5. Opportunity Analysis vs. Recommendations
To get a bit technical, one question I often get is the difference between “opportunity analysis” in intelligence writing and policy recommendations. It is a fine line indeed, but there’s a difference. To lay that out here:
Opportunity analysis raises possibilities that a decision-maker might consider related to the information provided, and likely implications. The language is often in the form “if XX [action we could take here] occurred, YY would be the likely result.”
In contrast, policy writing does not stop short of recommending a course of action. Often, it will examine options and the pros and cons of each in detail.
Do you agree with these points, or would you add or change anything? Is there anything you’d like me to go into more (or less) in the future? Please let me know in the comments!
Writing for the Jedi
Ok let’s get to the fun part. Let’s say the Jedi Council is trying to decide whether to train the young Anakin Skywalker. How would the Council’s intelligence advisor write about this, as compared to a policy advisor?
Let’s examine what a notional intel update could look like:
Anakin Skywalker Less of a Threat if Trained
We judge the risk of Anakin Skywalker destroying civilization as we know it would be lower if he is trained as a Jedi, a risk that also depends on Obi-Wan Kenobi’s teaching abilities and if we can keep him away from the Sith. Some Jedi believe that Anakin is the “chosen one” who will restore balance to the Force, but others are concerned he may not be able to control his feelings.
There is likely an unidentified Sith Lord at large after the death of Darth Maul, because Sith Lords come in pairs.
Although training could increase Anakin’s destructive abilities if he turned to the Dark Side, it could also help him resist this Sith—who would likely seek to foster his power anyway.
Risk of training would further decrease if Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is untested as a Jedi Master, shows facility in training apprentices. Conversely, not training Anakin would become less risky if there was a way to keep him hidden from the Sith.
As you can see, this focuses on the different scenarios that can plan out, and gets right up to the line of giving advice, but does not make a recommendation or examine different options in detail.
Now, let’s take a look at how a policy memo summary might read:
Decision: Whether to Train Anakin Skywalker
We recommend training Anakin Skywalker as a Jedi to reduce the risk of him turning to the Dark Side, and recommend putting Obi-Wan Kenobi through an intensive leadership course to improve his guidance. Some Jedi believe that Anakin is the “chosen one” who will restore balance to the Force, but others are concerned he may not be able to control his feelings.
There is likely an unidentified Sith Lord at large after the death of Darth Maul, because Sith Lords come in pairs.
Although training could increase Anakin’s destructive abilities if he turned to the dark side, it could also help him resist this Sith—who would likely seek to foster his power anyway.
We also considered hiding Anakin on a remote planet to keep him away from the Sith, instead of training him and risking his powers growing. However, younglings strong with the Force hidden on remote planets tend to be found.
As you can see, there’s a lot of the same information, but it’s arranged to make a recommendation. And, this version delves more deeply into other options that were considered and why they were rejected, to explain the tradeoffs.
I hope this article has been helpful in explaining the differences I’ve seen between intel and policy writing. If you like content like this, please subscribe and share!