The Findings Brief

The findings brief communicates research or analysis results to an executive who needs to make a decision based on those results. The structural failure mode of the findings brief is presenting findings without a recommendation. That is a report, not a brief. The findings brief ends with a recommendation.

The findings brief follows a four-part structure: finding, evidence, implication, recommendation. Not five parts — four. The finding is the headline-level conclusion of the research. The evidence is the three strongest data points that support the finding. The implication is what the finding means for the organization. The recommendation is what the executive should do about it.

Common failure mode: the findings brief that reports the finding and the evidence but stops short of the implication and recommendation. 'Our research shows that competitor pricing has shifted downward by 12% in the enterprise segment over the past six months.' That is a finding. 'This means our current pricing is 8–12% above market for comparable capability in enterprise accounts.' That is an implication. 'We recommend a 10% price adjustment for enterprise renewal accounts effective Q3.' That is a recommendation. All four parts. Without the recommendation, the executive has information but no direction — which means they either make their own recommendation (possibly wrong) or ask you to come back with one (a waste of time).