pick-a-lane SKILL.md skillA
pick-a-lane from kalyvask/winning-writing is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add kalyvask/winning-writing/pick-a-lane@git:20260522.8896ed6Pins git:20260522.8896ed6 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- kalyvask/winning-writing
- Path
side-panel-coach/rules/skills/pick-a-lane/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260522.8896ed6, committed May 22, 2026
- Size
- 8,956 bytes
- Repository stars
- 16
- License
- MIT
Diagnoses drafts that tell three half-stories instead of one full story, and rewrites them around the single strongest narrative thread. Implements Konrad's rule 7 and Adam Bryant's "stay in your lane" advice — distinct from compression (which cuts words) because pick-a-lane cuts whole stories. Use when a bio, cold email, op-ed, or pitch reads as a resume regurgitation, when the writer is dumping multiple accomplishments instead of telling one fully, or when a paragraph keeps turning corners.…
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Pick a lane Source: Konrad's rule 7 from *Winning Writing*, Adam Bryant's *Corner Office* column (NYT) on what CEOs look for in candidates, and a before/after rewrite pattern taught in Kramon's class. ## The premise Most personal writing fails not because the writer lacks material but because the writer has too much of it and won't choose. Five accomplishments mentioned in 200 words means each one gets 40 words. None lands. Pick a lane. Tell one story in full. Trust that the reader who wants the rest can find your LinkedIn. > *"Pick a lane, and stay in it. Don't stray all over the highway by regurgitating your resume. Stay on that story and tell it right."* — Adam Bryant (via Glenn Kramon's class) This is distinct from `compression`. Compression cuts adverbs and throat-clearing. Pick-a-lane cuts whole biographical episodes. They run different surgeries. ## What "all over the highway" looks like Three failure shapes. All three can fit in one paragraph. ### 1. The career-arc dump *"I started in management consulting, then went to a Series B startup, then moved to private equity, then co-founded a company, then came to GSB."* …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add kalyvask/winning-writing/pick-a-lane@sha256:f19fc7626f891ee1The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260522.8896ed6, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_dy36xzgjvledik43)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on May 22, 2026.
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (8956 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
kalyvask/winning-writing · 16 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-09-05 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_dy36xzgjvledik43 GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=kalyvask/winning-writing/pick-a-lane GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/f19fc7626f891ee18c7eb5a9415af72e3c3894a9fa1cec327a16468b01cfdbd4
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.
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