The Narrative Office

Safety Tax Diagnostic

Five minutes. Seven questions. Find out where your narrative is paying the Safety Tax and what it is costing you.

Your details

Name

The narrative

What type of narrative are you auditing?

Investor deck Enterprise pitch Positioning / website Product launch

In one or two sentences, what is this narrative trying to make someone believe?

The core claim. The thesis. The thing that should be true in the audience's mind after they encounter it.

Approval chain

How many people had meaningful input before this narrative went external?

1 2–3 4–6 7 or more

Is there a single named person with veto authority over the final narrative?

Yes, clearly Nominally, but others can reopen it No — ownership is diffused

Erosion signals

Can you name something specific that was removed or softened to make someone comfortable?

Nothing was softened A word choice here and there A specific claim or differentiated statement A core positioning choice was abandoned

Does the external narrative still match what your team actually believes is true?

Fully Mostly, with some hedging There is a visible gap The external version is substantially weaker

Retellability

If someone who heard this narrative had to explain it to a colleague who was not in the room, how would they do?

They would nail it in one sentence They would get the gist but lose the edge They would describe the category, not the company They would struggle to summarize it

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