Page 27 · Module 01, Think Like a Strategist · this screen continues that page
All 108 frameworksThe Context Stack
Your AI outputs feel shallow or off-target even when you've explained the situation. The AI
The prompt
Copy & paste readyLabelsReplace these
Pro tip, from the book
Save your most-used context stacks as text snippets. Paste them at the start of any AI session. This single habit cuts prompt iteration time by half.
Who should run this prompt
Module role profileWho should reason through this problem? The quality of your thinking is shaped by whose lens you borrow. A strategist and a risk analyst look at the same problem and see completely different things — both useful, both necessary. Before you prompt, choose who you need in the room. These profiles give you six internal perspectives and four outside views that challenge your assumptions before you commit to them.
The roles below are who the book suggests running this prompt — this lesson’s prompt doesn’t open with a single swappable role clause, so pick one and adapt the prompt’s own wording yourself.
◆◆◆◆◆ → ◆ seniority, board level down to specialist◈ outside the organisation
How to make any role sharper
- Add years of experience: "...with 15 years in enterprise SaaS" produces different depth than just the title.
- Add what they care most about: "You care most about [X]" shapes every word of the output.
- Add their communication style: "Be direct. Flag risks first. No jargon." changes the tone entirely.
Use this when
The problem it solvesis missing crucial background that seems obvious to you.
How the framework works
From the printed pageAI has no memory of who you are. Every prompt starts from zero. The Context Stack is a four-layer background brief: Situation (current state), Background (relevant history and details), Constraints (what limits apply), Output Format (exactly how you want the answer). The more precise your stack, the more precise the output. Constraints is the layer people forget most, which is why AI often suggests things you already know won't work. Background doesn't need to be exhaustive, just the two or three facts that would change the answer if left out. A reused context stack compounds in value across a session, since each new prompt inherits the setup instead of re-explaining it
The method, in four moves
Do these in orderWrite your context stack before your actual question, treat it as setup.
Include industry, company stage, audience, and any non-obvious constraints.
Reuse the same context stack across a session by pasting it at the top.
For recurring tasks, save your context stack as a reusable template. Why AI gives generic answers and how to fix it Most people give AI context about what they want but not who they are, what they've already tried, or what a good result looks like. AI fills those gaps with assumptions and they're usually wrong. Stack all four layers before you prompt, not after you get a bad result.
Where the framework comes from
Prompt engineering best practice — adapted from AI workflow research, 2023
Pairs well with
As printed with this frameworkModule 01 — Think Like a Strategist
Learn to work with AI. Then learn to think. Both are non-negotiable.
13 frameworks, printed on pages 22–47.
When this page changes, your copy of the book does not have to.
The book prints the framework. This page keeps it — and keeps the prompt current, because prompting technique moves faster than print does. When it moves, this page is rewritten and the code in your copy keeps pointing at it. No second edition, no replacement purchase, no account.
If something here looks wrong — a prompt that does not match its framework, a figure that reads oddly — tell Raphy. That correction reaches every printed copy at once.
Copying is free. An account keeps them.
Nothing on this page is behind a login and nothing ever will be. Save any prompt to your own list, pick up on another device, and send a colleague a link with your name on it. No card, no trial, no paywall on the prompts themselves.