Oracle Decision Memo Template
1. Decision
What decision is being made?
2. Objective, horizon, and constraints
- Objective:
- Time horizon:
- Constraints:
- What success looks like:
3. Options
4. Quick eliminations
Which options fail immediately, and why?
5. Outside view
- Relevant category or precedent:
- Base rate or reference class:
- What usually goes wrong:
6. Inside view
- Key assumptions:
- Main mechanism by which this works:
- Main mechanism by which this breaks:
7. Models applied
For each model:
- Model:
- Why it matters:
- What it suggests:
- What it does not settle:
8. Bias and incentive audit
- Dominant incentive:
- Likely misjudgments:
- Stakeholders who can game the system:
- Hidden reason this may still fail:
9. Premortem
Assume this failed badly. Why?
10. Recommendation
- Verdict:
- Confidence: low / medium / high
- Strongest reason:
- Biggest risk:
11. What would change my mind
List the facts, thresholds, or events that would materially change the recommendation.
12. Next actions
- Immediate next step:
- Evidence to gather:
- Decision deadline: