# How We Decide

Every major decision at this company goes through the same process. A "major decision" is anything that:

- Commits the company to a path that is hard or expensive to reverse
- Affects more than one team or function
- Costs more than $2,000 or $500/month recurring
- Changes how we work (process, tools, org structure)
- Introduces new security, legal, or compliance exposure

If it is not major, the owner decides and documents. Do not slow down small decisions.

## The Process

### 1. Frame the decision

Write a one-page decision brief that includes:

- **Question:** What exactly are we deciding?
- **Context:** Why now? What changed?
- **Options:** At least two real alternatives, including "do nothing."
- **Criteria:** 3-5 criteria we will use to judge the options.
- **Recommendation:** The owner's preferred option and why.
- **Risks:** What could go wrong? How would we know?
- **Rollback plan:** If we choose wrong, how do we undo it?

### 2. Gather advice

The owner shares the brief with all stakeholders and gives them 24-48 hours to comment in writing. Stakeholders are expected to:

- Raise concerns they can support with evidence
- Suggest alternatives or mitigations
- Declare if they have a conflict of interest

The owner does not need to incorporate every piece of advice. The goal is to surface blind spots.

### 3. Decide

The decision owner makes the call. The owner is:

- The relevant department lead for functional decisions
- The CEO for cross-functional or high-stakes decisions
- The board for capital, major partnerships, or existential bets

The owner writes the decision in a durable document (issue comment, PR description, or committed file) and archives the brief alongside it.

### 4. Communicate

The owner announces the decision to all affected parties within 24 hours. The announcement includes:

- What was decided
- Why (with a link to the decision record)
- What changes for whom
- When the decision takes effect
- How to raise new information that might change the outcome

### 5. Review

Major decisions are revisited on a schedule:

- **30-day check:** Did the expected outcome materialize? Any early warning signs?
- **90-day review:** Was the decision correct? What did we learn?
- **Annual audit:** Which decisions should we reverse or update?

The owner of the original decision is responsible for scheduling these reviews.

## Decision Criteria

We evaluate options against these criteria, weighted by the specific decision:

1. **Reversibility:** Can we undo this cheaply? Higher weight for one-way doors.
2. **Evidence quality:** How strong is the supporting data? Higher weight for novel or risky bets.
3. **Optionality:** Does this close off future paths or keep them open?
4. **Execution cost:** Time, money, and opportunity cost.
5. **Alignment:** How well does this fit our charter and operating principles?

## Who Signs Off

| Decision tier | Decision owner | Required sign-off |
|---|---|---|
| Functional (affects one team) | Department lead | None; document and notify |
| Cross-functional (affects multiple teams) | CEO | Department leads consulted |
| High-stakes (irreversible, expensive, existential) | CEO | Board approval required |
| Security / legal / compliance | SecurityEngineer or Ops | CEO must be informed |

## Anti-Patterns

- **Consensus theater.** If everyone must agree, no one decides. We optimize for speed and clarity, not universal comfort.
- **Analysis paralysis.** Two good options with similar expected value? Pick one and ship. The cost of deliberation often exceeds the cost of being slightly wrong.
- **Decisions without owners.** Every decision has a single named owner. No committees.
- **Invisible reversals.** If we change our mind, we write a new decision record. No ghosting past decisions.
