Recover the original decision logic
Before reacting to a new headline or metric, read the original objective, assumptions and review conditions. Identify what the decision was meant to achieve and the constraints under which it was made. Without this baseline, any new information can seem decisive.
Separate evidence that challenges a necessary condition from information that is merely interesting. A competitor announcement may matter, but its relevance depends on the customer problem and mechanism behind your choice.
Check the new evidence before changing course
Inspect its source, date, scope and measurement definition. Ask whether the observation is repeatable, whether it concerns the same population and whether another change could explain it. A revised metric definition can look like a performance shift.
When urgency permits, obtain a second relevant observation or inspect the underlying record. This is not a rule to delay necessary action; it is a way to avoid reversing a plan because of a misunderstood number.
Choose the smallest justified change
The options are not limited to stay or abandon. You might narrow the target group, change a delivery step, pause additional investment or run a discriminating test. Match the scale of the response to what the evidence actually challenges.
In an illustrative channel pilot, a rise in returns may call for clearer product information before closing the channel. If the evidence instead reveals an unworkable delivery constraint, a larger reversal may be justified.
Preserve the history of the change
Record the new evidence, which assumption changed, the revised action and what remains uncertain. Keep the previous rationale rather than rewriting it to make the new choice look inevitable. This supports honest learning.
Set the next review around the uncertainty that now matters most. A decision log should show how the team updates its reasoning, not simply list the latest position with no trace of why it changed.
Use this worksheet for your decision
Copy this into your notes. Leave unknowns visible instead of filling gaps with guesses.
Original decision and objective: Assumption challenged: New evidence and date: Definition and scope checks: Alternative explanations: Smallest justified response: Revised action: Previous rationale retained at: Next review condition:Download the text worksheet ↓
Find evidence in the archives
Choose a supporting case and a counterexample with a different outcome. Read their sources and check whether their conditions match yours.
Cases to practice with (read and check the underlying sources):
Bring your question to the cases
Search a company or topic in the app, read the cases and ask follow-up questions to compare approaches.