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Person Scan

A public figure in their public role: background, position, record and network.

2 credits·in-depth·about 2–4 min·12 domains

What it answers

The question Person Scan is built for

Name a public figure. It establishes who they are, their background, their current position, their track record, the network around them, and where their standing comes from, and closes with an outlook and a bottom line.

Who reaches for it

A briefing before a meeting, an interview or a negotiation with someone whose record you should already know.

What comes back

8 sections, on every run

These are the headings the result renders, read from the same promise the form makes before you spend a credit. A section that depends on what the record holds is rendered when it can be and never promised here.

01

Identity

02

Background

Career Timeline · Education
03

Current Position

04

Track Record

Notable Decisions · Stated Positions · Behavioral Signals
05

Network

Key Allies · Key Rivals
06

Where the Production Comes From

What It Rests On · Does It Travel · Same Shape, Earlier · What Would Change This
07

Outlook

Likely Priorities · Watch Signals · Upcoming Decisions · Risk Factors
08

Bottom Line

What you give it

3 boxes, 1 required

Person name
required · up to 120 characters
Identifying context
strongly suggested · up to 200 characters
Focus
optional · up to 300 characters
Try it on: a subject you already hold an opinion about, so you can grade the result against what you know. Each one opens the form filled, in the General domain.
William Burns
What it will not do

The lines it holds

Only a public figure in a public role. It does not profile private individuals, does not speculate about private life, and reports a connection only where the record documents it.

Every claim carries its grade

A claim the scan could not source is marked as such rather than dressed up. How the grades work →

Verified or grounded
Reported or attributed
Contested
Open question
Where it runs

Available in 12 domains

A domain may name it in its own words and price it on its own terms; each row is what that domain shows.

General2 creditsDefense2 creditsFinance2 creditsEnergy2 creditsHealth2 creditsPolicy2 creditsTechnology2 creditsClimate2 creditsLearning2 creditsSports2 creditsTravelas Person2 creditsLifestyleas Person2 credits
See one

Nothing published in this shape yet

No Person Scan has been published to the public library yet. Browse what has →

Roles that lean on it

One role guide suggests it

Freelance business writer
Try it

Run Person Scan on something you already know

The fastest way to judge the result is to pick a subject you know cold and read it against what you know. The scan names its credit cost before it runs.

Start with Person Scan →Plans and credit packs
More in the catalog

Other research in analyze

Idea Stress-TestYour idea against the record: the assumptions graded, the prior attempts found, the cheapest test named.Track RecordWhat someone said would happen against what actually happened, dated and scored.Why They Did ItWhy an actor really made a move, with each explanation graded against the record.Decision ReviewWas the call right, given what was knowable at the time, not what is known now.Literature ReviewWhat the studies actually show on a question, graded by how far they converge.CouncilYour own decision, read by the documented methods of two to four thinkers.The whole catalog →