Triaging KTLO

Overview

Transforms a chaotic KTLO (Keep The Lights On) backlog into a structured product view. Categorizes issues into 5 buckets, surfaces the top 20, and recommends stop/fix/defer actions.

When to Use

• Inherited a messy Jira backlog
• Support team keeps escalating issues
• Need to present KTLO to leadership
• Want to find patterns in operational burden

Core Pattern

Step 1: Load Jira Export

Read files in inputs/jira/ (CSV preferred, but accept HTML/PDF/MD).

Required columns (or equivalents):

• Issue key, Summary, Status, Priority
• Component/Product area
• Created date, Updated date
• Labels, Customer impact (if present)
• Escalation flag, Linked tickets

If columns are missing, note what's unknown.

Step 2: Categorize into 5 Buckets

Step 3: Score and Rank

For each issue, note:

• Which bucket(s) it belongs to
• Severity (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
• Recency (last updated)
• Volume (linked tickets, duplicates)

Step 4: Generate Output

Write to outputs/ktlo/ktlo-triage-YYYY-MM-DD.md:

---
generated: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
skill: triaging-ktlo
sources:
  - inputs/jira/export.csv (modified: YYYY-MM-DD)
downstream:
  - outputs/roadmap/Qx-YYYY-charters.md
---

# KTLO Triage: [Date]

## Executive Summary
[3 sentences: What's the state of KTLO? What's most urgent?]

## Bucket Overview

| Bucket | Count | Critical | High | Med | Low |
|--------|-------|----------|------|-----|-----|
| 1. Revenue Risk | N | N | N | N | N |
| 2. Trust/Data | N | N | N | N | N |
| 3. Ops Burden | N | N | N | N | N |
| 4. Paper Cuts | N | N | N | N | N |
| 5. Tech Debt | N | N | N | N | N |
| **Total** | N | N | N | N | N |

## Top 20 Issues

| Rank | Key | Summary | Bucket | Severity | Why It Matters | Who Feels Pain | Next Step |
|------|-----|---------|--------|----------|----------------|----------------|-----------|
| 1 | ABC-123 | [summary] | 1 | Critical | [reason] | [persona] | [action] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

## Patterns Observed
1. **[Pattern]:** [Description] — Affected issues: [list keys]
2. ...

## Recommendations

### STOP (Deprioritize/Close)
| Key | Reason |
|-----|--------|
| ... | [why this can be closed or deprioritized] |

### FIX (Address Soon)
| Key | Reason | Suggested Sprint |
|-----|--------|------------------|
| ... | [why urgent] | [Q1/Q2/etc] |

### DEFER (Later / Needs More Info)
| Key | Reason |
|-----|--------|
| ... | [why this can wait] |

## Unknowns / Missing Data
- [What columns were missing?]
- [What context would help?]

## Sources Used
- [file paths]

## Claims Ledger
| Claim | Type | Source |
|-------|------|--------|
| [Issue affects X customers] | Evidence/Unknown | [from ticket or "Not stated"] |

Step 5: Copy to History & Update Tracker

• Copy to history/triaging-ktlo/ktlo-triage-YYYY-MM-DD.md
• Update alerts/stale-outputs.md

Quick Reference

Common Mistakes

• Missing buckets: Only listing revenue risk → Check all 5 buckets
• No severity: "These are all important" → Rank by Critical/High/Med/Low
• Guessing impact: "This affects many customers" → Only state if in ticket
• Ignoring patterns: Treating each ticket independently → Group related issues
• No next steps: Just listing issues → Every issue needs suggested action

Verification Checklist

• All Jira files read
• Issues categorized into 5 buckets
• Counts are accurate
• Top 20 ranked with reasons
• Stop/Fix/Defer recommendations provided
• Patterns identified and documented
• Unknown/missing data noted
• Metadata header complete
• Copied to history, tracker updated

Evidence Tracking