Heuristics

Acknowledge Downsides and Dissent in Decisions

Authors: Andrea Magnorsky, Andrew Harmel-Law, Kenny Schwegler

Submitter: Andrew Harmel-Law

How can we document a decision while acknowledging disagreement or known trade-offs?

Use phrases like ”adopted despite” to list the known downsides of the chosen option. This formally acknowledges dissenting viewpoints and trade-offs directly within the decision record. It helps people feeling more heard and provides a more complete picture of the decision.

When recording a decision, you can state that an option was “adopted despite” a known downside. This makes team members who raised that concern possibly feel more acknowledged in the body of the document.

 

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