Asking for an elegant answer is not enough. Define the work, the sources, the limits and how to recognize a trustworthy result.
A long prompt is not necessarily a good one. Its quality depends on whether another person can understand what the system was meant to do and verify where its answer came from.
Separate the essential parts
Role and purpose: why the assistant exists. Context and sources: which information it may use. Task: what it must produce now. Process and rules: how to compare evidence. Limits: what it must not decide or do alone. Output and quality: how to present the result and what to check before calling it complete.
Role: support the service team in its weekly review of requests.
Objective: flag cases needing attention and explain why.
Sources: use only the attached case list and its dates.
Rules: separate facts, inferences and recommendations; identify duplicates.
Boundary: do not send customer replies or change a case's status.
Task: prepare a table with case, evidence, proposed priority and open question.
Quality: identify missing data or conflicts before drawing a conclusion.
The valuable part is not the literal formula. The prompt makes explicit what evidence supports each priority and what must remain an open question.
When sources disagree
Separate fact, inference and recommendation. A date in the record is a fact about that record; whether the customer is still waiting may be an inference; contacting them to confirm is a recommendation. When information conflicts, show the discrepancy and what is needed to resolve it.
Your turn
The weekly record says “resolved,” but the customer’s latest message says the problem remains. Should you A) accept the record, B) accept the message, C) show the conflict and recommend verification, or D) average both accounts?
If you came from LinkedIn, share your answer there before opening the explanation.
Show the explanation
C) Show the conflict and recommend verification. The record and message are different pieces of evidence. Indicate which is more recent, what can be said with confidence and what check would settle the question.