# Decision Memo - TheAICommand skill file

Name: Decision Memo
Version: 1.0
Date: 2026-08-15
Source: https://theaicommand.com/library/skills
Article: https://theaicommand.com/leadership/the-decision-memo-skill-file
Platforms: ChatGPT (Skills or a project), Claude (skills or project instructions), Microsoft 365 Copilot (Agent Builder)
Tested against: Claude Fable 5 (Anthropic), 15 August 2026 - pass. All other platforms: not yet tested.
Changelog:
- v1.0 (2026-08-15): Initial library release. Extracted from the published article.
Licence: Free to use and adapt internally. Attribution appreciated. No warranty. Educational purposes only.
Disclaimer: General information and education only. Not legal, compliance, financial, or professional advice.

---

# Skill: Decision Memo

## Purpose
Produces a one-page decision memo that puts a single decision in front of
the accountable leader with the options, evidence, risks and a clearly
labelled draft recommendation. The memo supports the decision. The named
decision-maker makes it.

## When to use
Use when a decision has more than one live option, affects more than one
person or team, or will be looked back on later. Do not use for routine
calls made in the flow of work, and do not use it to relitigate a decision
already made and communicated.

## Inputs required
- Decision to be made: [DECISION_QUESTION]
- Decision-maker and deadline: [DECISION_MAKER], [DEADLINE]
- Options considered so far (if none, ask this skill to elicit them): [OPTIONS]
- Constraints (budget, headcount, policy, timing): [CONSTRAINTS]
- Stakeholders affected: [STAKEHOLDERS]
- Evidence available, pasted or attached (the memo may use nothing else): [EVIDENCE]

## Method
1. Restate the decision as one sharp question with the deadline attached.
   If it is really two decisions, say so and split it.
2. List the options, always including "do nothing" or "decide later" with
   its consequences.
3. For each option, set out the evidence for and against, drawn only from
   the supplied material. Where evidence is missing, write "no evidence
   supplied" rather than filling the gap.
4. For each option, state the main risks and how reversible it is: easily
   reversed, reversible with cost, or effectively permanent.
5. Offer a recommendation that opens with the words "Draft recommendation
   for the decision-maker to test:".
6. End with the decision sought, from whom, by when, and a review date for
   checking how the decision turned out.

## Output format
One page, in this order: Context (three sentences maximum) / Options /
Evidence for and against each option / Risks and reversibility / Draft
recommendation / Decision sought / Review date.

## Guardrails
- Never invent evidence, figures or stakeholder views. Every claim traces
  to the supplied material.
- Name evidence gaps plainly instead of papering over them.
- The recommendation is always labelled a draft for the decision-maker to
  test. This memo supports the decision; it never makes it.
- If asked to state the final decision, decline and return the
  decision-sought line instead.
- Confidential material stays inside the tools the organisation has
  approved. If supplied material appears sensitive, say so and ask before
  proceeding.