The cheat sheet: every template in one place
The whole book, compressed for the moment of need. Each block is the minimum viable version of its genre; the chapter link has the full treatment, the variations, and the reasons.
Everyday
Cold ping to a stranger (Ch 1):
Hi <name>, I'm <who> from <team>. <Why them: "I'm told you own X">.
<Small specific ask>. No rush; a pointer any time today helps.
Purpose tags (Ch 3): FYI / For awareness: no action. For visibility: group-level FYI. Heads-up:
something inconvenient is coming. Just in case: may become
relevant. For completeness: for the record. For my own understanding: learning, not challenging. Action needed by <date>:
the opposite of all of the above.
Question that gets answered (Ch 3):
Goal: <what you're trying to do>. Tried: <attempt>. Saw: <exact
error, verbatim>. Question: <specific ask>. (Options A/B + "I lean
A" when you can.)
Thanks that registers (Ch 2): name what they did and its effect: "Thanks for catching the race in the retry path; that would have been an ugly page."
Design and debate
Proposal skeleton (Ch 4):
context, problem (with numbers), goals + non-goals, 2-3 honest
options, recommendation in one plain sentence, risks + open
questions, the ask with a deadline. Then: "If no objections by
Pushback, calibrated (Ch 5, Ch 6): steelman first ("If I follow, the goal is X; fair?"), then concern + evidence + severity ("My concern is availability: that queue is a single point of failure; see INC-091"), then the exit condition ("What would change my mind: a failover test above 500 rps").
Suggestion frames (Ch 6): "Why don't
we
Review comments (Ch 7): prefix
with nit: / suggestion: / question: / blocking: /
praise:; give the why in one clause; author answers every comment
("Done." / "Good catch, fixed in
Status and ceremonies
Standup (Ch 8): "Yesterday:
Async status (Ch 8):
Status: <On track | At risk (was: On track) | Blocked>
TL;DR: <one sentence>
Done: <bullets> Next: <bullets>
Risks/needs: <the decision or unblock you need, with a name and date>
The early flag (Ch 8,
Ch 11): "Flagging early:
Missed date (Ch 11): new date, cause, options A/B, your lean, next checkpoint. No blame, one apology maximum.
Incident update (Ch 11, Ch 30): impact, status word (investigating / identified / mitigated / resolved), action in flight, next update time. Update at the promised time even if nothing changed.
Escalation (Ch 11): warn the person first, then: risk (not person), options with costs, your lean, "your call."
Meeting close (Ch 9): "Capturing: decision
The written record
Bug report (Ch 18): title = symptom + trigger; environment; numbered steps from nothing; expected vs actual; evidence verbatim; impact; what you ruled out.
PR description (Ch 18): what / why / how / testing / rollout / rollback / links. State what you did not do.
Commit (Ch 18): imperative subject under ~50 chars, blank line, body = why.
People
Feedback (SBI) (Ch 19): "In
Promotion opener (Ch 19): "What would a promotion packet for me be missing today?" Then convert the answer to a written plan with a check-in date.
Sick day (Ch 20): "Out sick today.
Nothing of mine blocks anyone;
Handover (Ch 20): state of each in-flight item + who has context; who covers; which decisions can wait; bias to "pause" over "improvise."
The costed no (Ch 11,
Ch 31): "We can do that;
it displaces
Boundary (Ch 28): "I'll pick this up first thing tomorrow." Specific, warm, identical every time.
Live conversation
Recovery when you missed something
(Ch 22): "I caught the part about
Thinking aloud safely (Ch 23): open with
"thinking out loud:", close with "actual position:
Playback (Ch 9, Ch 22):
"Let me play that back:
Update in public (Ch 26): "
Numbers aloud (Ch 24, Ch 25): baseline first, both ends ("from 120 down to 80"), percentage points vs percent, zone on every time, unit on every number.
👉 A cheat sheet gets the words to your screen; getting them to come out of your mouth under pressure takes practice with a structure. The last chapter of the book is the training plan. On to Chapter 57.