3.7 KiB
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:
- Reversibility: Can we undo this cheaply? Higher weight for one-way doors.
- Evidence quality: How strong is the supporting data? Higher weight for novel or risky bets.
- Optionality: Does this close off future paths or keep them open?
- Execution cost: Time, money, and opportunity cost.
- 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.