SOP: Reusable template vs starting blank

SOP: Reusable template vs starting blank

Run this whenever you've done a similar task three times by hand.

Stage 1 — Qualify for a template (owner: process owner)
☐ Have you produced this artifact 3+ times (brief, report, page, launch)?
☐ Are 70%+ of the parts identical each time?
☐ Do different people produce it and diverge in quality?

Stage 2 — Choose
☐ Template: locks structure, encodes the must-have sections, speeds the boring 70%. Use when output and quality vary by author. Cost: people fill it on autopilot and skip thinking.
☐ Blank start: full freedom. Use for genuinely novel work or when the structure itself is the question. Cost: reinvention and inconsistent results.

Stage 3 — If templating (owner: owner)
☐ Mark which fields are required vs optional.
☐ Add a one-line "why this section exists" note to fight autopilot.
☐ Done-when: the template has an owner who prunes it quarterly.

Trigger: third repeat of a task. Done-when: template built or blank chosen on purpose.

Save this. Run it every time.