Decision memotemplate.
Write a note that can survive copy and paste. No essay. No preamble. No context section that breeds interpretation. Just something the organisation cannot accidentally improvise. If the decision cannot travel, it does not exist.
Fill it in. Copy it out.
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Chapter 12The Decision Note
You write a note that can survive copy and paste. No essay. No preamble. No context section that breeds interpretation. Just something the organisation cannot accidentally improvise.
DECISION NOTE (Story & Spark) Decision: [decision] Why: [why] Not doing yet: [out of scope for now] Next proof + date: [proof + date] No essay. No preamble. Just something the organisation cannot accidentally improvise. — From Just F*cking Ship It · voltsmethod.com/learn
Send it to everyone who was in the room — and the stakeholders who weren’t. Because if the decision cannot travel, it does not exist.
From Chapter 12, Just F*cking Ship It by Matthew Barrington-Packer
When to reach for it,
and how to fill it in.
Use it when
- A decision has been made and needs to reach people who were not in the room.
- Previous decisions were sent as long emails that nobody quoted correctly.
- You expect someone to try to reopen it.
How to fill it in
- Decision: one sentence.
- Why: the reason, in plain words.
- Not doing yet: the boundary.
- Next proof and date: what will show it is working.
- Ask: one, only if you need it. Then send it to the room and to the people who were not there.
Where it usually goes wrong.
Context invites interpretation. Put the background in a link, not the memo.
The stakeholders who were not there are the ones who will reshape it. Send it to them too.
One ask gets an answer. Three asks get a meeting.
Quick answers
What is a decision memo?
A short written record of a decision, its reason, its boundary and the next proof point, written to be forwarded without losing its meaning.
How long should a decision memo be?
Five short lines. If it needs more, the decision probably is not made yet.
Who should receive it?
Everyone who was in the room, and the stakeholders who were not. The second group matters more.
The rest of the toolkit.
A template fixes ambiguity.
The book fixes the room.
This is one of the tools from Just F*cking Ship It, the five-move VOLTS Method for getting stuck work shipped. Read it in an afternoon. Ship something by Friday.