business template

Decision brief for a fork in the road

Structures a real decision instead of listing generic pros and cons.

Opens the composer with the prompt filled in. Free — an emailed code is all you need.

The prompt

Copy it, or use the button above to drop it straight into the composer. Everything in [SQUARE BRACKETS] is a slot you fill in.

Help me think through a decision properly.

The decision: [A OR B, STATED AS A CHOICE]
Why it's live now: [WHAT FORCED IT]
Constraints: [TIME, MONEY, PEOPLE, SKILLS]
What I'm optimising for over the next 12 months: [GOAL]
What I'd have to give up for each option: [IF KNOWN]

Structure it as:
1. The real question underneath the stated one — decisions like this usually proxy for something else. Name it.
2. What has to be true for option A to be right. Same for B. Which of those beliefs is weakest?
3. The cost of being wrong in each direction. Include reversibility — which mistake is cheaper to undo?
4. The thing I could test cheaply in the next two weeks that would move my confidence most.
5. Your recommendation, stated plainly, with the single assumption it rests on.

Do not give me a balanced list of pros and cons and leave the choice to me. Take a position and show the reasoning, so I can attack it.

When to use it

A decision is live and you want the reasoning structured
You need someone to take a position you can then attack
You're deciding what to test rather than what to build

Which mode suits it

A decision brief needs a stated recommendation and the assumption it rests on, which the broader mode is better at producing.

Creative — more angles, more expressive