Decision Making

Good decisions are process, not intuition alone: frame → options → criteria → evaluate → commit → review. Speed where reversible; care where not.

When to use

• Any choice with consequences (technical, financial, project, personal).
• Decisions under uncertainty or time pressure.
• After decisions go wrong — review the process, not just the outcome.

Method

1. Classify: reversible (decide fast, adjust) vs irreversible (slow down, deliberate); stakes × reversibility sets the effort budget.
2. Frame the actual decision: what needs deciding, by when, constraints, out-of-scope. Restate until it's crisp.
3. Generate options — at least three: binary choices are usually false binaries; include "do nothing / wait" and a smaller reversible step.
4. Criteria first: define what matters (cost, risk, time-to-value, optionality) and weights BEFORE scoring options — criteria after scores is rationalization.
5. Evaluate with fitting tools: decision matrix for multi-criteria; expected value / decision trees when probabilities are estimable; scenario thinking when they're not; flag the uncertainty.
6. Pre-mortem: assume it failed — why? Fix or hedge the top reasons now.
7. Commit + log: choice, rationale, assumptions, review date; communicate the decision with the "why".
8. Review on schedule: outcomes vs expectations; separate luck from process; update.

Quality gates

• Decision framed + classified (reversible/irreversible + stakes).
• ≥3 options incl. status quo; criteria + weights before evaluation.
• Pre-mortem done for material decisions; risks hedged.
• Decision logged with assumptions + review date.

Red lines

• No decisions without options; no criteria invented after scores; no irreversible decision made in a rush or a mood.

Related

analytical-reasoning · critical-thinking · delivery-planning.