Decision Journals

What this unit covers

Learn to keep a decision journal: write down your reasoning before you know the outcome, for any significant decision.

By the end you will be able to

• Explain why memory of a decision's reasoning becomes unreliable once the outcome is known.
• Distinguish the quality of a decision from the quality of its outcome.
• Identify the four parts of a decision journal entry and draft one for a real decision.

How it starts: Before You Know What Happened

1. Last year you made a big money decision and never wrote down why.
2. Ask yourself today what you were actually thinking before you decided.
3. Is that memory your real reasoning, or a story shaped afterward?

Words you will meet

Decision journal

A dated written record of a decision's situation, reasoning, and expected outcome range, made before the result is known.

Hindsight bias

The tendency for memory to reshape past reasoning to match an outcome already known.

In this module: Mastering Yourself

1. Biases
2. Emotional Control
3. Decision Journals (this unit)
4. Performance Reviews