Turn an important choice into a one-page decision memo
Leaders receive a one-page memo with the decision, options, evidence, assumptions, risks, reversibility, and decision deadline.
The problem
Important decisions arrive as meetings and slide decks with unclear options, assumptions, owners, and reversal costs.
What you get
A working system with the steps, tools, checkpoints, and expected return made explicit.
- Setup
- 30 minutes
- Back each week
- 2 hours
- Difficulty
- starter
Expected return
The working case
A planning estimate, not a guaranteed result. Measure the first four weeks against your own baseline.
96
hours returned per year
At 2 hours/week across 48 working weeks.
1
week to earn back setup
Compare the setup estimate with the weekly time returned.
Operating contract
Input
The source material, constraints, and examples a human would need to do this work well.
Checkpoint
A person reviews judgment calls, sensitive content, unfamiliar tools, and irreversible actions.
Success signal
Track time returned, corrections required, and exceptions. Keep it only if the measured result compounds.
Before you start
- ·A named decision owner
- ·A real decision deadline
The steps
- 01
Name the exact decision, decision owner, deadline, constraints, and what happens if no decision is made.
- 02
Gather the minimum evidence and at least two real options, including “do nothing.”
- 03
Draft the memo and make uncertainty visible.
Copy this prompt
Create a one-page decision memo: decision, owner, deadline, context, options including do nothing, evidence, assumptions, risks, reversibility, recommendation from the named owner, and next action. Mark unsupported statements [ASSUMPTION]. Inputs: [brief]
- 04
The decision owner edits the recommendation, decides, and records the rationale.
What it runs on
- Notion
Decision record with backlinks.
- Google Docs
Low-friction review alternative.
Where this goes wrong
- AI does not own the recommendation.
- Do not manufacture false precision to make an option look inevitable.
Definition of done
Run it for four weeks. Then make it earn its place.
- □ Baseline the manual time before launch.
- □ Keep a human approval step for consequential output.
- □ Record corrections and exceptions, not just successes.
- □ Expand, revise, or retire it after the first review.
Build the system around it
Related workflows
If this one stops working, tell us. Three reports in a month and it leaves the library until a person has looked at it again.