A memo that has to make a decision is the wrong place for sycophancy. But model output drifts toward flattery by default: "the brilliant work the engineering team has done", "thanks to the tireless efforts of our partners", "the visionary leadership of the senior team". A reader trying to figure out what they're being asked to approve has to wade through all of it.
Cut the appreciation, keep the request
A memo's job is to put a decision in front of someone with enough context to make it. Adjectives like "brilliant", "tireless" and "visionary" carry no information. The reader can usually infer the writer's gratitude from the fact that they wrote the memo at all.
Before
Thanks to the brilliant work of the engineering team and the tireless efforts of our incredible product partners, we have made significant strides on the new payments flow. I am incredibly excited to share that we are now in a position to seek approval for the next phase.
After
The payments flow is ready for the limited launch we scoped in March. The remaining decision is whether to roll out to all UK customers on Wave 1 or stage the rollout by cohort. The team recommends staged. Approval needed by Friday for a Monday start.
The praise test
Before sending, search your memo for the words "incredible", "tireless", "brilliant", "visionary", "exciting" and "passionate". Each one is a signal you may be writing for the team's morale rather than the reader's decision. Delete the adjective; usually the sentence improves.