Put one important decision you face now through the tools from this module.
Choose one real decision you haven't made yet and write a one-page review of it before you commit. The page shows the door type, the options you considered, the risks, the reasons for your choice and the warning signs you'll watch, and it uses Lessons 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 together. Allow about thirty-five minutes.
Important decisions usually get written down somewhere, in an email, a chat message or a line in the minutes. Usually only the outcome is recorded, such as "We'll go with Vendor B". Three months later, nobody remembers which alternatives were considered, what the risks were, or what would have changed the plan. The one-page record answers all of those questions.
Pick a decision you face now, at work or in your personal life, that is important enough to justify thirty-five minutes. A new role, a large purchase, a change of supplier or a move would all work. You must not have made the decision yet, so that the review can still change it.
Open a document or a spreadsheet and set out five sections, which you fill in this order:
the decision in one sentence door type options pre-mortem final record with reasons and warning signs
Start by writing the decision as a question. Hafiz runs three cafes, and the point-of-sale system at all three is slow. A vendor offers him a discount if he signs by the end of the month, so his question is whether to replace the system across all three cafes before Chinese New Year.
Use Lesson 6.1, One-way doors and two-way doors. Ask how much it would cost and how long it would take to reverse the decision if it went wrong. Then label it a two-way door, a one-way door, or a one-way door that could be made two-way. That third label is for a decision that is hard to reverse but can be made reversible with a trial, a shorter contract or a pilot with one team. If you use it, note how you would make the decision reversible.
If the decision is clearly a two-way door, you may not need the rest of the review. Decide quickly and set a date to check it. The remaining sections are for decisions that are hard to undo.
Hafiz labels his decision a one-way door that could be made two-way. The vendor wants a three-year contract, but Hafiz could trial the system at a single outlet if he gives up the discount.
Next, use Lesson 6.3, Widen your options before you choose. If the decision is framed as yes or no, rewrite it around the goal behind it. Ask what else the same money or time could do, and what you would do if all your current options vanished. List at least three options, including at least one you hadn't considered before today, and add a short note on the cost and main risk of each.
Hafiz lists four options. He could replace all three systems now and take the discount, or trial the new system at one outlet now and decide on the other two after a month. He could also wait until after Chinese New Year and compare two vendors, or keep the current system and pay about S$1,500 (an example figure) for the vendor's speed upgrade. He only thought of the upgrade when he asked himself what he would do if the new vendor disappeared.
Pick a leading option. It may be the one you started with, as long as you chose it from several. Hafiz picks the one-outlet trial. That means losing the discount, which he works out at about S$2,000 across the three outlets.
Use Lesson 6.2, Imagine it failed: the pre-mortem. Imagine it is a year from now, you went with your leading option, and it failed. Spend five to ten minutes alone writing down why it failed. If other people are affected, ask one or two of them to do the same, then share your reasons one at a time.
Mark the three reasons that are most likely or would do the most damage. For each of those three, either change the plan or set a warning sign.
Hafiz's top three reasons are that his staff aren't trained in time for the holiday rush, that the new system doesn't work with his accounting software, and that the trial outlet is too quiet to reveal problems. He changes the plan in two ways. The trial will run at his busiest outlet, and he will get written confirmation that the system works with his accounting software before he signs. He also sets a warning sign: more than two payment failures in any week of the trial means he pauses the rollout and calls the vendor.
The final section is the one you'll come back to. Your decision record states the decision you made, the two or three reasons that tipped it, the changes the pre-mortem caused, and the warning signs to watch. Each warning sign needs a measurable trigger, an action, and a date to check it.
Hafiz's record says he will run the trial at the busiest outlet from next week and decide on the other two outlets by the end of January. His reasons are that a three-outlet switch over the holiday is too risky, and that the S$2,000 discount is cheap insurance against a three-year mistake. The record also lists his pre-mortem changes, the payment-failure warning sign and a review date of 31 January.
Put your own review date in your calendar. Then share the review with someone affected by the decision, because a review is more useful once one of those people has seen it. Module 8 turns this kind of decision record into a regular habit.
Your finished review fits on one page and names the door type. It shows at least three options with their costs, your top three pre-mortem reasons and what you did about each, and a decision record with your reasons, warning signs with triggers, and a review date. Someone who reads it in six months should be able to see what you knew and why you made the choice.
The activity below asks you to complete your review and share it with someone affected by the decision.
Fill in the decision review template for one important decision at work or at home, and share it with one person it affects.
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