Prepare a decision memo with explicit tradeoffs

A decision memo should help its owner choose. It should not hide uncertainty behind a weighted score whose weights nobody agreed on.

Prepare the input

Provide the decision, options, constraints, evidence, and owner. State what is fixed and what can change. Include the cost of delaying and any conditions that make an option unacceptable.

Run the workflow

Ask for a comparison against explicit criteria. If weights or values are missing, leave them as decisions. Separate facts from estimates and identify the next step that would reduce meaningful uncertainty.

Prompt to copy

Decision: [decision]. Options and evidence: [material].
Constraints and criteria: [details].
Create a memo: objective, options, tradeoffs, unknowns,
recommendation with reasons, and smallest reversible next step.
Do not invent weights, costs, or stakeholder agreement.
Show which new evidence could change the recommendation.

Review a worked example

Illustrative choice: automate all support actions or start with reply preparation. If the team lacks verified account-write access, that is a concrete dependency. The memo should explain the tradeoff rather than assign an arbitrary 9/10 score. Check whether the recommendation follows from the supplied criteria.

Check whether a recommendation assumes a resource that is not available, such as an approved connection or a named reviewer. Make that dependency visible. A reversible next step should create useful evidence even if the final option changes. Avoid a pilot whose only possible conclusion is approval of the original idea.

Use it again

Record the actual decision separately from the proposed recommendation. Revisit it when a stated assumption changes. Explore Bot for individual preparation or contact Golub about the chosen integration approach.