The one-sentence readiness template

One sentence, six blanks. If any blank cannot be filled, the automation is not ready, and the empty blank tells you what to do next.

"We are automating [task], which is performed [frequency] by [role], against the standard defined in [artefact]. Output will be checked by [person] using [method], and we will know it has failed when [signal]."

Each blank fails in its own way. No task means you are at department level. No frequency means nobody has established whether it is worth doing. No role means nobody currently owns it, so nobody will notice its absence. No artefact means there is no written standard, which is the gold standard problem.

No checker means unattended automation, which is a decision that should be made deliberately rather than by omission. And no failure signal is the most common gap of all: the system will fail, and the plan is that somebody will notice.

The value of the sentence is that it is short enough to be read in a meeting and specific enough that it cannot be completed vaguely. Most proposals cannot be written in it on the first attempt, and finding out which blank is empty is the entire point.