Hard to Fire
Hard to Fire · Chapter 9 · Scored diagnostic

The Narrative Strength Test

Test whether the adjacent-role story is specific, supportable, and portable before you ask the market to believe it.

Score the story you wrote, not the better version you can hear in your head.

1

Does the narrative mention a specific dollar amount or measurable business impact at least twice?

Not scored
2

Could a hiring manager identify the exact type of problem you solve?

Not scored
3

Does the narrative include a prevention story with a figure attached?

Not scored
4

Does the narrative name a specific AI tool or workflow?

Not scored
5

If you remove experience, years, and seasoned, does the narrative still work?

Not scored
6

Does the narrative name a business cycle, market condition, or organizational event you navigated?

Not scored
7

Could a junior employee write the same narrative?

Not scored
8

Does it answer why someone should pay senior rates without using experience?

Not scored
9

Is there a sentence a CFO would underline?

Not scored
10

Does the narrative show how AI makes you faster while judgment improves the output?

Not scored
0/20
0/10 questions scored

Finish all ten before treating the total as a diagnosis. Partial math is still partial.

Where the story is thin

  1. Thin spots will appear here as you score.

Read the total

Under 10rewrite
10 through 14sharpen
15 through 17strong
18 or higherready for pressure

One failed question is enough to show where the story is thin. The total tells you how much repair is left. Neither one predicts what an employer will do.

Don't negotiate with the rubric

If the narrative has one number, it gets one point for the first question. A second adjective is not a second figure. If the tool is only “AI,” the workflow is still missing. The diagnostic is useful only when you let it be rude.