# Brag Doc Skill

Nobody remembers in December what they shipped in March — so good work goes uncredited at review time.
A brag doc is the fix: a running, dated log of what you did and the impact it had, captured while it's
fresh. This skill turns a pile of "stuff I did" into impact-first entries you can paste straight into a
[`self-review`](../self-review/SKILL.md) or [`promotion-packet`](../promotion-packet/SKILL.md).

## Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

- **The win(s)** — what you did (rough notes are fine; the skill structures them).
- **Impact** — the outcome and any metric (before → after, time saved, revenue, users) — even a rough one.
- **Scope & role** — your specific contribution vs. the team's, and who it affected.
- **Date / period** and any **evidence** (PR, doc, dashboard, kudos, ticket link).

## Output Format

### Brag Doc — [your name], [period]

Entries newest-first, grouped by theme (or quarter). Each entry is **impact-first**:

> **[Verb-led headline — the outcome, not the task]** · *[date]*
> - **What I did:** [the specific action and your role in it]
> - **Impact:** [metric / outcome — before → after where possible]
> - **Scope:** [who/what it affected — team, org, customers]
> - **Evidence:** [link]
> - **Maps to:** [the competency / ladder level it demonstrates — e.g. "cross-team influence"]

Example:

> **Cut onboarding drop-off 18% → 9%, unlocking ~$140k ARR** · *Mar 2026*
> - **What I did:** led the redesign of the 3-step signup flow; wrote the PRD, drove eng + design alignment.
> - **Impact:** activation 41% → 52%; drop-off halved (measured over 6 wks, 20k users).
> - **Scope:** owned end-to-end; affected all new signups.
> - **Evidence:** [PRD] · [dashboard]
> - **Maps to:** drives measurable product outcomes; cross-functional leadership.

End with a **"Themes this period"** summary — the 3–4 narrative threads your wins ladder up to.

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Every entry leads with **impact/outcome**, not the activity
- [ ] Metrics include the baseline (before → after), not a bare percentage
- [ ] Your specific contribution is distinguished from the team's
- [ ] Each entry links real evidence
- [ ] Entries are tagged to a competency/ladder level, so the doc feeds a review or promo case directly

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not log tasks ("attended planning", "wrote code") — log outcomes ("shipped X, which moved Y")
- [ ] Do not wait until review season — capture wins within a week, while the metrics and context are fresh
- [ ] Do not inflate or claim team wins as solo — overstated credit is worse than none when a manager checks
- [ ] Do not omit the metric because it's imperfect — a rough, labelled estimate beats "improved things"
- [ ] Do not bury the evidence — an unlinked claim is one a busy manager can't verify or champion

## Based On

Brag-document practice (Julia Evans) and impact-first accomplishment tracking.
