Brief · Template

Decision Memo.

LiveDecision Memo

Put a named decision in front of the person who owns it: the recommendation first, every option scored the same way, and the reasons you can defend.

You getA memo of about 1,700 words (Standard) or 3,500 (Comprehensive)

LengthsBrief, Standard or Comprehensive

Written byOne AI specialist, chosen for the decision

SourcesEvery figure cited, or marked as a gap

Add it to your library to reuse from New → From template. Edit the saved copy in your library on the service form.

When to use it

You have a choice between real options, a person who must decide by a date, and a cost if the choice is wrong.

Who it is for. The person who recommends and the person who decides: brand, regulatory, market access, medical, pricing and portfolio leads who have to put a recommendation in front of a committee or a general manager.

Why decisions stall, and why they go wrong

A decision stalls when it is unclear who decides. It costs time or money when a hard-to-reverse call gets a light process, or a reversible one gets a heavy process. The Decision Memo deals with both before anything else: it names the decider, and it says how reversible the choice is.^{7Rogers, P. and Blenko, M. Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance. Harvard Business Review, January 2006. Bain and Company.,4Amazon. 2015 Letter to Shareholders. Published 2016.}

What you get

The answer on the first screen. The decision, who decides, by when and whether it can be reversed cheaply, then the recommendation in one sentence. A reader who stops there still has what they need.^{1University of Saskatchewan, Board of Governors. Preparing a High-Quality Request for Decision (RFD): guide for board document preparation. March 2026.}

Options judged the same way. Every option, including doing nothing, is scored against the same named criteria. You see the ranking, why the winner wins, and the strongest argument against it, with an answer.^{5Spetzler, C., Winter, H. and Meyer, J. Decision Quality: Value Creation from Better Business Decisions. Wiley, 2016.}

What the answer depends on. The assumptions that must hold, each with a test and a date, and the uncertainties that would flip the result.^{5Spetzler, C., Winter, H. and Meyer, J. Decision Quality: Value Creation from Better Business Decisions. Wiley, 2016.}

How it could fail. The causes of a failure a year from now, with the early warning and an owner for each, then the first move, the gates and what is not yet known.^{6Klein, G. Performing a Project Premortem. Harvard Business Review, September 2007.}

Nothing unsourced passed off as fact. Every number is cited or marked as a gap. A score that is judgment is labeled as judgment. A figure nobody could find is never drawn as zero.

What is in it, by length

Section	Brief	Standard	Comprehensive
Decision requestedWhat is being decided, by whom, by when, how reversible	●	●	●
RecommendationWhat you advise, and why in one sentence	●	●	●
Context and framingWhy now, what is in scope and out	–	●	●
Options consideredHow the options compare on the same criteria	●	●	●
Why this option winsWhat decides it, and the strongest case against	–	●	●
What must be trueWhich assumptions carry the answer, and how to test each	–	–	●
What would change the answerWhich uncertainties would flip the result	–	●	●
Risks and the pre-mortemHow it could fail, and the early signal	–	●	●
Path and what we do not knowFirst move, gates, owners, open gaps	●	●	●

A Standard memo runs about 1,700 words and up to 2,000. A Comprehensive memo runs about 3,500.

Choosing a length

Choose Standard for most decisions. Choose Comprehensive when the decision is hard to reverse or rests on assumptions you must test. Brief is a quick screen: it leaves out the context, the reasons and the risks.

The standards and practice behind it

The structure and the checks come from published decision practice. These are the references we drew on and what we took from each. None of their authors has reviewed the template.

What we took	From	Where it shows
Lead with the decision; keep the paper to what the decider must decide, and put the request first	A university board’s guide to writing a request for decision^{1University of Saskatchewan, Board of Governors. Preparing a High-Quality Request for Decision (RFD): guide for board document preparation. March 2026.}	The decision block and the one-sentence recommendation come first; a Standard memo stays within about 2,000 words
Reason in connected sentences, not bullets, so the writer has to commit to causes and effects	Amazon’s narrative memo, as described by its former executives and by an outside account^{2Callahan, S. Amazon’s six-page narrative structure. Anecdote, 8 May 2018.,3Bryar, C. and Carr, B. Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. St. Martin’s Press, 2021.}	Why this option wins, the context and the risks are prose; tables and charts carry only the comparison
Say whether the decision is a one-way or a two-way door, and match the process to it	Amazon’s 2015 letter to shareholders^{4Amazon. 2015 Letter to Shareholders. Published 2016.}	The reversibility line in the decision block
Check the quality of the decision, not only the document: framing, alternatives, information, values and trade-offs, reasoning, commitment	Decision Quality (Spetzler, Winter and Meyer)^{5Spetzler, C., Winter, H. and Meyer, J. Decision Quality: Value Creation from Better Business Decisions. Wiley, 2016.}	The same criteria across all options; the alternatives always include doing nothing
Imagine the plan has failed and explain why, while there is still time to change it	The project premortem (Gary Klein)^{6Klein, G. Performing a Project Premortem. Harvard Business Review, September 2007.}	Risks and the pre-mortem: causes, early warnings and owners
Name who recommends, who must agree and who decides	RAPID decision roles (Rogers and Blenko, Bain and Company)^{7Rogers, P. and Blenko, M. Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance. Harvard Business Review, January 2006. Bain and Company.}	The decider line in the decision block
Show probability of success and risk-adjusted value, not only the upside	Risk-adjusted net present value in pharmaceutical asset valuation^{8Alacrita. Valuing Pharmaceutical Assets: When to Use NPV vs rNPV. White paper.}	Probabilities are cited base rates or labeled analyst estimates
Choose the chart for the question, and draw it only from sourced data	The Financial Times Visual Vocabulary^{9Financial Times Visual Journalism Team. Visual Vocabulary. Financial-Times/chart-doctor repository.}	The scorecard, ranking and risk map; no chart is drawn from numbers that were not sourced

What it will not do

It does not make the decision. The named decider does.

Scores and weights are analyst judgment from an AI specialist, not measurements. They show how the options compare on the criteria you chose; change the weights and the ranking can change.

It is one specialist’s answer. When you need several specialists to disagree in the open, run a Panel.

Facts the specialist could not source appear as gaps. Regulatory fees, review goals, reference prices and probabilities are cited to their sources or left open. Check any figure you will act on against its primary source.

References

[1] University of Saskatchewan, Board of Governors. Preparing a High-Quality Request for Decision (RFD): guide for board document preparation. March 2026. Sets a two-page limit on the request and tells authors to focus on what the board must decide.
[2] Callahan, S. Amazon’s six-page narrative structure. Anecdote, 8 May 2018. An outside account of Amazon’s narrative memos, not an Amazon document.
[3] Bryar, C. and Carr, B. Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. St. Martin’s Press, 2021. Publisher listing. By two former Amazon executives.
[4] Amazon. 2015 Letter to Shareholders. Published 2016. Introduces one-way (Type 1) and two-way (Type 2) decisions.
[5] Spetzler, C., Winter, H. and Meyer, J. Decision Quality: Value Creation from Better Business Decisions. Wiley, 2016. Publisher listing; the six elements are as summarized in a 2025 review.
[6] Klein, G. Performing a Project Premortem. Harvard Business Review, September 2007.
[7] Rogers, P. and Blenko, M. Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance. Harvard Business Review, January 2006. Bain and Company.
[8] Alacrita. Valuing Pharmaceutical Assets: When to Use NPV vs rNPV. White paper.
[9] Financial Times Visual Journalism Team. Visual Vocabulary. Financial-Times/chart-doctor repository.

Links checked 9 October 2026

These are the sources the template drew on. None of their authors or issuers has reviewed it.

About the Brief service

A Brief is a written answer from one specialist, at the depth you asked for. It arrives with its sources, and it closes by saying plainly what would change the conclusion. Nothing is hidden behind a summary, and anything the expert could not source is marked as a gap rather than filled in.

Use cases for the Decision Memo

7 ready-to-run use cases. Each opens its own page with the question, the specialists, the standards and the references.

BPLiveBrand Positioning DecisionDecide which positioning a brand should lead with at launch, scored on differentiation, label fit, prescriber and patient resonance, and cost to execute, with claims flagged for review.Decision MemoBrand & Marketing

Open Open →

RPLiveRegulatory Pathway DecisionChoose between a 510(k), a De Novo request and waiting for more evidence, with each route scored on cost, time, evidence burden and risk, and the one fact that would change the answer.Decision MemoRegulatory

Open Open →

MELiveMarket Entry SequencingDecide which market to enter first and in what order, comparing access routes, the evidence each requires, time to reimbursement and execution risk.Decision MemoMarket Access

Open Open →

EGLiveEvidence Generation StrategyChoose between a randomized trial, a single-arm study with an external control and real-world evidence, scored on payer credibility, cost, time and the risk of an inconclusive result.Decision MemoMarket Access

Open Open →

PALivePricing and Contracting PositionDecide between a list price, a lower price and an outcomes-based agreement, scored on net revenue, speed of access, cross-market precedent and administrative burden.Decision MemoMarket Access

Open Open →

AGLiveAsset Go/No-GoDecide whether to advance, pause or license out an asset, scored on probability of success, expected value, cost to the next gate and strategic fit, with the gates laid out.Decision MemoCorporate Development

Open Open →

BPLiveBuild, Partner or BuyDecide whether to build, partner or acquire a capability, scored on time to market, cost, control and integration risk, with the one fact that would change the choice.Decision MemoCorporate Development

Open Open →

To edit a saved template, open New → Brief → From template, or the library rail on the service form.

When to use it

You have a choice between real options, a person who must decide by a date, and a cost if the choice is wrong.

Why decisions stall, and why they go wrong

What you get

Nothing unsourced passed off as fact. Every number is cited or marked as a gap. A score that is judgment is labeled as judgment. A figure nobody could find is never drawn as zero.

What is in it, by length

Section	Brief	Standard	Comprehensive
Decision requestedWhat is being decided, by whom, by when, how reversible	●	●	●
RecommendationWhat you advise, and why in one sentence	●	●	●
Context and framingWhy now, what is in scope and out	–	●	●
Options consideredHow the options compare on the same criteria	●	●	●
Why this option winsWhat decides it, and the strongest case against	–	●	●
What must be trueWhich assumptions carry the answer, and how to test each	–	–	●
What would change the answerWhich uncertainties would flip the result	–	●	●
Risks and the pre-mortemHow it could fail, and the early signal	–	●	●
Path and what we do not knowFirst move, gates, owners, open gaps	●	●	●

A Standard memo runs about 1,700 words and up to 2,000. A Comprehensive memo runs about 3,500.

The standards and practice behind it

The structure and the checks come from published decision practice. These are the references we drew on and what we took from each. None of their authors has reviewed the template.

What we took	From	Where it shows
Lead with the decision; keep the paper to what the decider must decide, and put the request first	A university board’s guide to writing a request for decision^{1University of Saskatchewan, Board of Governors. Preparing a High-Quality Request for Decision (RFD): guide for board document preparation. March 2026.}	The decision block and the one-sentence recommendation come first; a Standard memo stays within about 2,000 words
Reason in connected sentences, not bullets, so the writer has to commit to causes and effects	Amazon’s narrative memo, as described by its former executives and by an outside account^{2Callahan, S. Amazon’s six-page narrative structure. Anecdote, 8 May 2018.,3Bryar, C. and Carr, B. Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. St. Martin’s Press, 2021.}	Why this option wins, the context and the risks are prose; tables and charts carry only the comparison
Say whether the decision is a one-way or a two-way door, and match the process to it	Amazon’s 2015 letter to shareholders^{4Amazon. 2015 Letter to Shareholders. Published 2016.}	The reversibility line in the decision block
Check the quality of the decision, not only the document: framing, alternatives, information, values and trade-offs, reasoning, commitment	Decision Quality (Spetzler, Winter and Meyer)^{5Spetzler, C., Winter, H. and Meyer, J. Decision Quality: Value Creation from Better Business Decisions. Wiley, 2016.}	The same criteria across all options; the alternatives always include doing nothing
Imagine the plan has failed and explain why, while there is still time to change it	The project premortem (Gary Klein)^{6Klein, G. Performing a Project Premortem. Harvard Business Review, September 2007.}	Risks and the pre-mortem: causes, early warnings and owners
Name who recommends, who must agree and who decides	RAPID decision roles (Rogers and Blenko, Bain and Company)^{7Rogers, P. and Blenko, M. Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance. Harvard Business Review, January 2006. Bain and Company.}	The decider line in the decision block
Show probability of success and risk-adjusted value, not only the upside	Risk-adjusted net present value in pharmaceutical asset valuation^{8Alacrita. Valuing Pharmaceutical Assets: When to Use NPV vs rNPV. White paper.}	Probabilities are cited base rates or labeled analyst estimates
Choose the chart for the question, and draw it only from sourced data	The Financial Times Visual Vocabulary^{9Financial Times Visual Journalism Team. Visual Vocabulary. Financial-Times/chart-doctor repository.}	The scorecard, ranking and risk map; no chart is drawn from numbers that were not sourced

What it will not do

It does not make the decision. The named decider does.

Scores and weights are analyst judgment from an AI specialist, not measurements. They show how the options compare on the criteria you chose; change the weights and the ranking can change.

It is one specialist’s answer. When you need several specialists to disagree in the open, run a Panel.