# Decision Brief

## When to use

Use this template when two or more credible options are on the table and the real task is to recommend a path with clear trade-offs.

## Input needed

Prefer to gather the minimum useful context:

- decision objective
- option set
- key constraints
- most important evaluation criteria
- timeline pressure
- major stakeholder preferences if relevant

If 1-2 critical premises would materially change the recommendation, clarify those first.

## Output goal

Produce a concise comparison output that makes the decision objective, trade-offs, recommendation, and next step easy to review.

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# Decision Brief

## 1. Decision to be made

- What are we deciding?
- Why does this decision matter now?

## 2. Decision objective

- What result are we optimizing for?
- What matters most in this decision: speed, impact, cost, quality, risk, leverage, or long-term flexibility?

## 3. What this decision is really trying to protect

- What scarce resource or strategic advantage are we trying to protect?
- Trust, focus, market timing, engineering bandwidth, support capacity, or long-term leverage?

## 4. Options under consideration

### Option A

- What is it?
- What does it optimize for?

### Option B

- What is it?
- What does it optimize for?

### Option C (if relevant)

- What is it?
- What does it optimize for?

## 5. Comparison criteria

- Which criteria actually matter for this decision?
- Avoid decorative criteria that do not change the recommendation.

## 6. Trade-off analysis

- Where is each option strongest?
- Where is each option weakest?
- Which option creates the best fit for the real objective under current constraints?
- What is the decisive trade-off?

## 7. Current call

- Which option should be chosen now?
- Is a phased path better than a single winner?

## 8. Why not the others now

- Why are the other options less suitable right now?
- What would need to change for them to become better choices later?

## 9. What would change this call

- Which assumptions are carrying the recommendation?
- What evidence or condition would flip the decision?

## 10. Decide now vs validate next

- What should be decided immediately?
- What should be validated before further commitment?

## 11. Next action

- What should happen immediately after the decision?
- Who needs alignment or confirmation?

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## Misuse guard

Do not use this template to preserve fake balance.
If the brief still cannot show the real decision objective, decisive trade-off, and why-not-the-other-path-now logic, it is still avoiding the job.

## Notes for use

A strong decision brief should:

- compare options against the real decision objective
- show trade-offs honestly
- recommend a path instead of hiding behind symmetry
- make it easy to explain the choice to stakeholders
- make the why-now / why-not-now logic easy to scan
