Memo culture

The default mode of most companies is verbal decisions made in meetings that nobody writes down. Six months later nobody remembers what was decided, why, or who decided it. Memo culture is the alternative: written thinking precedes important decisions, and the writing itself becomes the record. It's slower up front. It compounds.

Why memos beat decks

Amazon famously banned PowerPoint in leadership meetings. The reason is not aesthetic; it's epistemic:

• Bullets hide logic. A deck lets you assert without reasoning. A memo forces you to connect claims.
• Narrative exposes gaps. When you can't write the sentence connecting two points, you don't actually understand them.
• Memos scale. Anyone can read the memo asynchronously. Decks require the presenter.
• Memos are durable. You can read it in a year and understand what was decided and why.

The standard memo structure

1. Context, what's the situation, why now?
2. Problem / opportunity, what are we trying to decide?
3. Options considered, at least 2, usually 3
4. Recommendation + reasoning
5. What we'd need to believe, assumptions that, if wrong, change the recommendation
6. Risks + open questions
7. Appendix, data, detail, supporting analysis

Length: 1–6 pages. If it's under 1 page, it's an email. If it's over 6, it's two memos.

The meeting format

The canonical memo-driven meeting:

1. Memo circulated 24 hours in advance (or read silently for first 15 minutes of meeting, the Amazon model)
2. Silent read + note-taking
3. Discussion, every attendee has context, so discussion goes to substance immediately
4. Decision recorded in decision log

The first time you run this, it feels slow. By meeting three, you wonder how you ever made decisions any other way.

The classes of memo

Decision memo

Proposing a specific decision. Uses the structure above. Most common.

Strategy memo

Laying out a strategic thesis. Typically longer (5–15 pages). Context + thesis + implications + bets + risks.

Post-mortem memo

After an incident, launch, or killed project. What happened, what we learned, what we'll do differently.

FAQ memo

Anticipates questions before they're asked. Useful for product launches, pricing changes, or org changes. "Frequently asked questions" format, but written adversarially, what's the hardest thing someone could ask?

6-pager / narrative memo

Amazon's ritual. 6-page maximum. No bullets. Full sentences and paragraphs. Surprisingly hard to write, which is the point.

Writing well enough for a memo

• Lead with the conclusion. If the reader only gets through paragraph 1, they should know what you're recommending.
• Specific > abstract. "Increase pricing for enterprise tier from $50K to $75K" not "consider pricing adjustments."
• One idea per paragraph. If a paragraph contains three ideas, it's three paragraphs.
• Show your work. If your recommendation is backed by a calculation, include it.
• Steelman the alternatives. Every option you considered gets its strongest case made, not a strawman.

What memo culture changes

• Decisions get better because the decider sees the reasoning, not just the ask
• Remote/async work becomes feasible because decisions don't require everyone in a room
• Onboarding gets cheaper because a new hire can read the last 20 memos and know what was decided and why
• Reversing decisions gets honest, you can read the original assumptions and see whether they held

What memo culture costs

• Time to write. A good memo takes 4–8 hours.
• Resistance from people who "think better verbally" (usually they think less clearly but faster)
• Discipline to enforce, if half the team writes memos and half doesn't, you don't have memo culture

What good looks like

• Every meeting with > 3 attendees + a decision has a pre-read
• Memos are archived somewhere searchable (Notion, Google Drive, dedicated memo system)
• Senior leaders write their own memos, don't delegate the thinking
• Reading memos is a protected activity (calendar blocks, not "catch up in between meetings")

Related: Decision logs · Decision frameworks · Meetings that don't waste time