DECISION TEMPLATES
Frame the Decision before anyone scores it.
A Decision template is a reusable frame. It names the question, the owner, the options that belong on the card, the evidence the Verdict will need, and the later Outcome review.
A template is not a completed Decision.
Guides help you write a better question. Templates go further: they name the seats on the chain, the evidence that usually matters, the Decision Hinges that flip the call, and when the Outcome should be reviewed.
Bring the options and facts you actually have.
What every template asks you to name.
The Decision question, the Decision Owner, stakeholders, options, criteria, evidence required, known unknowns, material risks, Decision Hinges, required approvals, what could reverse the Verdict, and the Outcome review date.
Champion still has to make an honest case. Challenger still attacks the load-bearing claim. Inspector still keeps a brochure from looking like a fact. Judge still can return No Strong Winner Yet.
Start from the Decision you are actually making.
Vendor selection, build versus buy, security risk acceptance, a security exception, architecture, procurement, software evaluation, and vendor renewal each hide a different hinge. Do not run a procurement card on an architecture constraint.
After the frame is honest, start the Decision in Argumont. The template does not produce a Verdict about your situation.
A template is a structure
A template is a structure. The Human Decision stays with the person who must sign.
Champion and Challenger test the case, Inspector checks the evidence, and Judge records the Verdict for the Decision Owner.
Decision templates
Architecture decision
Architecture Decisions become tomorrow’s constraints. This template keeps the lost alternatives, the operational load, and the Human Decision that later teams w...
Build vs buy
Build versus buy is rarely two options. The honest set usually includes assemble, wait, or decline. This template keeps those alternatives visible so a preferre...
Procurement decision
Procurement is not a cheaper vendor-selection page. This template is for the commercial Decision: contract, volume, dual-source, and the exit you can still exec...
Security exception
A security exception is permission to deviate from a named control. This template keeps the policy, the system, the expiry, and the reviewer on the card so a la...
Security risk acceptance
Acceptance is a Human Decision. This template keeps residual exposure, compensating controls, and the review date on the record so a ticket cannot age into sile...
Software evaluation
Software evaluation is not vendor selection. This template asks whether a named product can do the work in your constraints. The commercial Decision can still f...
Vendor renewal
Renewal is a different Decision from first selection. You now have an Outcome from the last term. This template puts that Outcome beside the next commercial cho...
Vendor selection
Vendor selection fails when the second demo rewrites the scorecard. This template keeps the buyer’s Decision on the page so a polished walkthrough cannot silent...
Bring Argumont a Decision worth challenging.
Structure the question, test the evidence and the assumptions, and preserve what your organization ultimately decides.
Start from a real Decision