---
title: "Be Explicit About Decision-Making Authority"
source: "https://virtualddd.com/heuristics/be-explicit-about-decision-making-authority/"
authors: ["Andrea Magnorsky", "Andrew Harmel-Law", "Kenny Schwegler"]
tags: ["decision-making process", "facilitating software architecture and design", "collaborative software design", "deep democracy"]
type: "guiding heuristics"
question: "How can we avoid the frustration of performative collaboration when a decision has already been made?"
submitter: "Kenny Schwegler"
---

# Be Explicit About Decision-Making Authority

Clearly communicate the decision-making process being used for any given choice. If a leader has already made a decision, they should state it directly rather than creating a false pretense of seeking input. This respects people's time and avoids breeding cynicism. We can categorise four different decision-making types and we can use the following scale to communicate it to people:

![From Collaborative Software Design: How to Facilitate domain modelling decisions.](./_assets/be-explicit-about-decision-making-authority-body-1.png)

## Example(s)

A CTO, having decided to adopt a new technology, informs the team of the decision and its rationale. This is preferable to asking for their opinion on the matter as if the choice were still open.