Quality Gates for Briefs

Every brief passes through three quality gates before delivery. Gate one: factual verification — every quantitative claim traces back to a source, every source is cited, and every confidence level is justified. Gate two: structural compliance — the brief follows the template for its type, section lengths are within bounds, and information density matches the consumer profile. Gate three: actionability check — the brief contains at least one specific recommended action with an owner and a timeline, or explicitly states why no action is recommended.

1. Gate 1: Factual Verification Trace every quantitative claim to its source. Verify that confidence levels match the evidence quality. Flag any finding that relies on a single source without acknowledging the limitation. This gate catches hallucinations, stale data, and over-confident assessments.
2. Gate 2: Structural Compliance Check the brief against the template. Is the BLUF in the first paragraph? Are evidence bullets properly sourced? Is the word count within the consumer's attention budget? Does the format match the brief type? Structural compliance ensures the brief is consumable.
3. Gate 3: Actionability Does the brief end with a specific recommended action, an owner, and a timeline? If the intelligence does not suggest an action, does the brief explain why? A brief without actionability guidance is an observation, not intelligence.