5 Rules I Put in Every Instruction File (And Why "Be Professional" Isn't One of Them)
The Departure
Last week, you built your briefing file. Four sections: Voice DNA, Business Context, Operational Rules, Q2 Priorities. I've seen a lot of them since then. Here's what I noticed: most of you nailed Voice DNA and Business Context. Most of you either left Operational Rules blank or wrote, "be professional." That's not a rule. That's a wish. Here are five rules, each copy-paste-ready, that fix a specific failure mode I've seen AI produce for SME owners.
The Co-Pilot
Tool: Your Briefing File (works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot; wherever you built it last week)
The Use Case: Five operational rules to paste directly into Section 3 of your briefing file. Each one governs how your AI writes, formats, and closes on your behalf.
The Prompt: The Five Rules
Rule 1 -- Output Format
"Never use bullet points in client-facing emails. Use short paragraphs of 2-3 sentences. Bullets in internal documents only."
Why it matters: Bullets in client emails read as curt and low-effort. Your AI doesn't know the difference between an internal Slack summary and an email to a prospect unless you tell it.
Rule 2 -- Length
"Default output length is 150-200 words for emails, 400-600 words for proposals. Do not pad. Stop when the point is made."
Why it matters: AI defaults to maximizing output. Without a length rule, every email becomes a 500-word essay. Length rules force concision and save you from editing down every single time.
Rule 3 -- Tone Guardrail
"Never use the words 'delighted,' 'excited,' 'revolutionary,' or 'game-changing.' Never end an email with 'Please let me know if you have any questions.'"
Why it matters: Specific word bans beat vague tone instructions every time. "Be professional" produces nothing. A banned-word list produces clean, human-sounding output on the first draft.
Rule 4 -- The Ask Rule
"Every client communication must end with one specific, time-bound ask. Never close without a clear next step and a proposed timeframe."
Why it matters: AI-assisted emails frequently end soft -- a summary, a pleasantry, no next step. This rule turns every output into a pipeline-advancing document. If your AI writes a follow-up email, it ends with "Can we lock in 15 minutes on Thursday at 2 PM?" not "Looking forward to connecting."
Rule 5 -- The Travel Rule
"When I am traveling, keep all outputs under 100 words unless I explicitly ask for more. Flag any item that requires a decision with [DECISION NEEDED] at the top."
Why it matters: You're between flights. You need a 3-line summary, not a 2,000-word report. This rule means your instruction file knows when you're in context-switching mode -- and adjusts automatically.
The Upgrade
Topic: Why These Rules Matter More This Week Than Last Week
Claude Managed Agents launched in public beta yesterday. These are AI agents that run tasks autonomously, without you having to watch. The operational rules in your briefing file are no longer just conversation preferences. They're the governing logic for agents that act on your behalf. Write them like they'll be followed literally, because they will be.
Rules are trust infrastructure. 50% of US consumers prefer brands that avoid AI in marketing. 96% want disclosure when AI mimics humans. Your operational rules are how you ensure every AI-generated output still sounds like you and meets the bar your clients expect. That's not efficiency. That's brand protection.
This is what separates casual users from operators. The same AI tool produces wildly different outputs depending on the rules it's given. No new subscription required. No new tool to learn. Five lines of text in a file you already built, and every piece of output this quarter filters through them automatically.
The Landing
Your task today: Open the briefing file you built last week. Paste these five rules into Section 3 -- Operational Rules. Eight minutes. Once they're in, every email, proposal, and follow-up your AI generates in Q2 automatically runs through them. That's not a productivity hack. That's a quality system.
P.S. If you're a non-technical founder with a product idea, Perplexity's Billion Dollar Build deadline is April 14 -- $1M seed funding, no code required. Worth a look: perplexity.ai/build
Safe travels,
Marcellus