alignment-document

name	alignment-document
description	Structure and write ENAC alignment documents and Statements of Work using Confront, Co-Create, and Copilot structure. Use for alignment documents, SOWs, proposals, project scopes, and consulting deliverable narratives.

Alignment Document and SOW Skill

Alignments and Statements of Work are ENAC's commercial documents. They are not contracts. They are shared commitments: co-created with the client, not delivered to them.

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The Difference Between an Alignment and an SOW

Alignment document: A narrative description of the engagement. What we're doing together, why, and how. Reads like a shared understanding, not a vendor proposal.

Statement of Work: A more formal version of the Alignment with explicit deliverables, investment, and terms. Built on top of the Alignment narrative.

Both follow the same structure. The SOW adds sections for Investment and Terms.

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Required Structure

Alignment

1. Situation: What is actually happening at the client right now. Uses the client's language. Not a problem statement: a mirror.
2. Objectives: What success looks like at the end. Specific, agreed-upon, not aspirational.
3. Approach: The three phases: Confront, Co-Create, Copilot. What happens in each.
4. Who Is Involved: ENAC team and client team members. Named, not role-generic.
5. Investment: If included. See SOW rules.

Statement of Work (all Alignment sections plus)

6. Deliverables: What is produced. Specific artifacts, not activities.
7. Investment: Explicit dollar amount, payment schedule, what is and is not included.
8. Terms: Start date, payment terms, cancellation policy.

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The Three-Phase Structure (Mandatory)

Every engagement approach must map to these three phases. Do not substitute generic consulting language.

Confront: Surface uncomfortable truths through interviews, research, or structured exercises. This is where ENAC listens before speaking. Named in both the Forces Framework (executive interviews, weeks 1-4) and Moments Framework (JTBD interviews, weeks 1-4).

Co-Create: Build solutions together with the client team. Not delivered to them. Built with them. Named in both frameworks (weeks 5-8) and as the CoCreate sprint service.

Copilot: Guide implementation planning. ENAC co-creates the roadmap alongside the team and remains available for 2 years post-engagement.

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Voice Rules for Alignment Documents

• Write in the voice of a trusted peer, not a vendor
• First person plural ("we") when describing shared work
• Use the client's language: phrases from their conversations, their frame, their words
• No consulting jargon: no "leverage," "synergy," "best-in-class," "solutions"
• No em-dashes: use commas, semicolons, colons, or restructure
• Short sentences over long paragraphs
• Specific over vague: name the real challenge, not a sanitized version of it

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What ENAC Is Not

• Not a consultancy that delivers recommendations
• Not a vendor that hands off deliverables
• Not a firm with a methodology they impose on clients

ENAC co-creates. Every document should reflect that.

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Situation Section Rules

The Situation section is the most important part. It must:

1. Show the client you understand their actual situation: not a generic version of it
2. Use their language and phrases from intake conversations
3. Name the real tension or constraint, not the polite version
4. Not describe the problem as if you have the answer already

Test: Would the senior client contact read this and say "yes, that's exactly it"?

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Investment Section Rules

• State the number clearly. Do not hedge or bury it.
• Structure: what the investment covers, what it does not cover, payment schedule
• Never frame cost as a discount or a special rate
• Justify in terms of value, not effort: "This is what focused looks like" not "This represents N hours of work"

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Quality Tests

Test	Question	If No
Mirror	Would the client recognize their situation?	Rewrite Situation
Their language	Are the client's own phrases in the document?	Add them
Three phases	Is Confront/Co-Create/Copilot explicit?	Add it
No jargon	Zero banned words?	Remove them
Specificity	Are people, dates, deliverables named?	Make it concrete
Co-creation	Does it say "together" not "for you"?	Reframe