Decision journal
Record the reasoning before the outcome is known, then read it back later
Before a decision that matters you write out the situation, the problem as you frame it, the alternatives you rejected and why, what you expect to happen, and how confident you are in each outcome. You also note how you feel, physically and mentally, at the time. Then you leave it alone. Months later you read it against what actually happened. The paperwork exists because memory rewrites itself: it files good outcomes as foresight and bad ones as luck, so the pattern in your own mistakes stays invisible. A notebook and a fixed template are the whole system.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Shane ParrishDoes it
Writer · Farnam Street and The Knowledge Project
Before a consequential call he writes down the situation, the alternatives he rejected, what he expects and how confident he is, then reads it back once the outcome is known. He published the template his team uses, with a real decision of his own filled in on it.
Source: fs.blog: decision journal, template and example“Everyone has blindspots; the best way to discover yours is to keep a decision journal.”
fs.blog: Decision Journal, Template and Example Included (opens in a new tab)
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