Decision Memo

Write a one-page decision memo with the recommendation up front, three MECE reasons, risks owned, and the exact decision being requested.

Write a decision memo (one page) from my thinking below.

The decision to be made: [THE QUESTION, e.g. "build vs buy the analytics stack", "enter market X in Q2 or wait"]
Who decides + what they care about: [THE READER(S) + their priorities: cost, risk, speed, politics]
My recommendation (if I have one): [WHAT I THINK WE SHOULD DO, or "help me pick from the options"]
The material: analysis, numbers, options considered, discussions so far:
"""
[DUMP EVERYTHING RELEVANT]
"""
Deadline for the decision + what happens if we don't decide: [DATE + THE COST OF STALLING]

Structure: answer first, always:
1. **The opening block (SCQA, 4 sentences):** Situation; one uncontested fact everyone agrees on. Complication: what changed that forces a choice now. Question: the decision, in one sentence. Answer: my recommendation, bolded. The reader knows what I want before the first heading.
2. **Three reasons (MECE)**: each a numbered claim-sentence with its 2-3 strongest pieces of evidence from my material beneath it. Three, not seven: if my material offers more, keep the strongest and fold or cut the rest. Reasons must not overlap. If two reasons share evidence, merge them.
3. **Options considered**: the 1-2 real alternatives, each with the honest reason it loses (one line each). Straw men insult the reader; make the losing option's best case before beating it.
4. **Risks and mitigations**: the 2-3 real ways the recommendation goes wrong, each with its mitigation or the trigger for revisiting. Owning the risks preempts the meeting's hardest objections.
5. **The ask**: the exact decision requested, from whom, by when, and the first action upon approval. "Approve $X for Y starting Z", never "thoughts?".

Rules: one page (400-500 words), the analysis lives in an appendix line ("full model available"), not in the memo. Every claim traces to my material; where a load-bearing fact is missing, mark [NEEDED: what] rather than asserting it. Write for a skeptical skim: bolded answer, numbered reasons, no throat-clearing. If my material actually argues against my stated recommendation, say so before writing: a memo shouldn't launder a weak case.

How to use

Answer-first is the Minto Pyramid Principle, and SCQA is its standard opening: the structure McKinsey and Amazon writing cultures converge on because executives read conclusions, not build-ups. Decision support is now the single biggest workplace AI use, and this format is its highest-leverage container: one page, three reasons, explicit ask. If the memo can't fit a page, the decision isn't framed tightly enough yet.

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