Decision Memo

Decision Memo

When to use

Use whenever a specific decision, approval, or resource commitment is needed from an executive, committee, or board — especially replacing a memo or deck that thoroughly describes a situation but never crystallizes into a specific ask with a specific deadline, which is how decisions quietly stall for months.

What it does

Produces a tight, one-page memo built around a single decision: the specific recommendation, the real alternatives that were considered (so the reader knows this isn't the only option, and why it beat the others), the specific resource or approval being asked for, and a stated deadline — structured so a reader can approve or reject it in the time it takes to read one page, without a follow-up meeting just to figure out what's actually being asked.

Method

1. State the decision needed in the first sentence, framed as a decision, not a topic — "Approve $400K to launch X by Q3" not "Update on X initiative."
2. State the recommendation immediately after, in one or two sentences, before any supporting context — Pyramid Principle discipline: answer first.
3. Give the minimum context needed to understand the decision (situation/complication, kept to a short paragraph) — this memo is not the place for the full analysis; link or attach it, don't inline it.
4. Name the 2-3 real alternatives that were considered and, in one line each, why they were not recommended — this is what separates a decision memo from a pitch; it shows the reader the option space was actually explored, not that one idea is being sold as the only path.
5. State the specific ask explicitly: what exactly is being requested (budget, headcount, approval, a go/no-go), in concrete terms a reader can literally say yes or no to.
6. State the risks and the mitigation in one tight paragraph — enough for the reader to feel the recommendation accounted for the downside, not so much that it reads as hedging.
7. State the decision deadline and what happens if no decision is made by then — a memo with no deadline invites "let's discuss further," which is often how good decisions die slowly instead of getting a clean yes or no.
8. End with the exact question the reader needs to answer — literally spell out "Requesting approval to proceed by [date]. Yes/No?" rather than trusting the reader to infer what response is needed.

Inputs

• The decision that needs to be made and by whom
• The recommendation and the reasoning behind it (can draw on strategic-options output if available)
• The alternatives considered and why each was not chosen
• The specific ask, timeline, and consequence of no decision

Output format

One page. Decision statement → recommendation → brief context → alternatives considered and why not chosen → specific ask → risks and mitigation → deadline and consequence of delay → explicit closing question requiring a yes/no.

Example

A 12-page strategy deck that never explicitly asks for anything gets converted into a one-page memo: "Decision needed: approve $1.2M to build in-house fulfillment vs. continue third-party logistics. Recommendation: build in-house — projected to save $400K/year at current volume within 14 months of payback. Alternatives considered: renegotiate with current 3PL (rejected — capped savings at $150K/year); switch 3PL providers (rejected — 6-month transition risk with no cost advantage). Ask: $1.2M capex approval and 2 FTE headcount. Deadline: decision needed by [date] to hit the Q3 build timeline; a delay past that pushes the earliest go-live to next fiscal year." The board can say yes or no to that in the room.

Common pitfalls

• Writing a memo that thoroughly explains a situation but never states a specific ask, leaving the reader unsure what response is expected.
• Omitting the alternatives considered, which makes the recommendation read as the only option rather than the best of several real ones.
• Leaving out a decision deadline, which lets a memo drift into "let's discuss" indefinitely instead of forcing a clean answer.