Playbooks
Step-by-step tactical guides for specific tasks and situations.
Canonical reference for the memory/knowledge-repo/playbooks/ folder used across personal knowledge bases. Keep playbook content here; link to this file from your local playbooks README.
What Goes Here
Playbooks are tactical how-to guides - specific, actionable instructions for accomplishing particular tasks. They’re your SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for common scenarios.
Include
- ✅ Step-by-step task guides
- ✅ Checklists for specific situations
- ✅ Decision trees and workflows
- ✅ Templates with usage instructions
- ✅ “What to do when…” guides
- ✅ Scenario-based protocols
Don’t Include
- ❌ High-level frameworks (those go in
/frameworks/) - ❌ Multi-phase methodologies (those go in
/methodologies/) - ❌ One-off instructions for unique situations
Playbook Types
Task Playbooks
Purpose: How to execute a specific task Example: “Cold Email Outreach Playbook”
Situation Playbooks
Purpose: How to handle specific scenarios Example: “Pricing Objection Handling Guide”
Decision Playbooks
Purpose: How to make specific decisions Example: “Should I Take This Client? Decision Tree”
Process Checklists
Purpose: Quality assurance for repeated tasks Example: “Pre-Publish Content Checklist”
Playbook Documentation Template
# [Playbook Name]
> One-sentence description of what this playbook helps you accomplish
---
## Overview
**Type**: [Task/Situation/Decision/Checklist]
**Created**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Duration**: [How long this typically takes]
**When to Use**: [Specific trigger or situation]
**Success Looks Like**: [How you know it worked]
---
## Prerequisites
Before starting, ensure you have:
- [ ] [Required information/resource 1]
- [ ] [Required information/resource 2]
- [ ] [Required tool/access 3]
---
## The Playbook
### Step 1: [Action]
**Objective**: [What this step accomplishes]
**Time**: [Typical duration]
**Instructions**:
1. [Specific action]
2. [Specific action]
3. [Specific action]
**Output**: [What you should have after this step]
**Common Issues**:
- **If [problem]**: [Solution]
- **If [problem]**: [Solution]
---
### Step 2: [Action]
[Repeat structure]
---
## Templates & Scripts
### [Template/Script Name][Actual template or script content]
**Customization Points**:
- [What to personalize]
- [What to adapt based on context]
---
## Quality Checklist
Before considering this task complete:
- [ ] [Quality criterion 1]
- [ ] [Quality criterion 2]
- [ ] [Quality criterion 3]
---
## Common Variations
### Scenario A: [Different context]
**Adapt by**: [How to modify the playbook]
### Scenario B: [Different context]
**Adapt by**: [How to modify the playbook]
---
## Examples
### Example 1: [Real scenario - anonymized]
**Situation**: [Context]
**How playbook was applied**: [Specific execution]
**Outcome**: [Results]
**Learning**: [What this taught you]
---
## Success Metrics
Track these to know if the playbook is working:
- [Metric 1 - e.g., response rate, time saved, quality score]
- [Metric 2]
---
## Iteration Log
**[Date]**: [Update made and why]
**[Date]**: [Update made and why]
---
**Tags**: #playbook #[task-type] #[context]
Playbook Categories
Client Acquisition
- Cold outreach sequences
- Discovery call preparation
- Proposal creation workflow
- Pricing conversation scripts
Content Creation
- Substack post checklist
- LinkedIn post formula
- Instagram reel script template
- Newsletter planning guide
Client Delivery
- Kickoff call structure
- Weekly update template
- Difficult conversation scripts
- Scope change negotiation
Operations
- Invoice and payment process
- Contract review checklist
- Project folder setup
- File naming conventions
Current Playbooks
- [Playbook Name] -
filename.md- Type: [Task/Situation/etc.]
- When to use: [Trigger]
Instructions: During customization, create playbooks for your most common tasks. These should be detailed enough that someone else (or AI) could follow them and get good results. Start with tasks you do repeatedly.
Last Updated: 2025-11-28 Status: Ready for playbook creation