Vocations · Professional Development

Write the decision down.
Check it later.

Good judgment at work comes from honest feedback, and memory is a poor source of it. Write down each real decision, the options you weighed, how sure you were and what you expected. On the review date, compare. Over a few months the log shows where your calls are sharp and where they drift.

Log a decisionWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Job search kit, $29 for 34 items.

Your decisions

The worked example is made up: taking a team lead role, review due in three days, and a sprint change rated certain that went worse. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Vocations · Professional Development$5

What you finish with
A record per decision: what, when, how easy to undo, each option with what favors and opposes it, the choice, a 1 to 5 confidence rating, the prediction, a review date, four checks and, later, how it turned out and the lesson. Counts reviews and how often confident calls held up; flags reviews due, single-option decisions, hard-to-undo calls made alone and certain calls that went worse.
Who it is for
Early-career professionals, new managers, freelancers and anyone who wants to get better at decisions at work.
Format
Browser log with a saved record per decision. Prints one decision, the whole log in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Job search kit ($29) and the Vocations Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Professional Development space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Log the decision the day you make it.
  2. Write at least two options, with the case for and against.
  3. Rate how sure you are and write the prediction.
  4. Set a review date a month to a quarter out.
  5. On that date, record what happened and one lesson.

Log a decision

Written down twice

A decision, written down twice1BeforeOptions, with what favors andopposes each2The callWhat you chose and how sureyou are3The predictionWhat you expect, and whatwould mean you were wrong4The review dateA month to a quarter out, onthe calendar5Looking backWhat happened, against whatyou wrote6The lessonOne thing to do differentlynext timeA decision, written down twice1BeforeOptions, with what favors and opposeseach2The callWhat you chose and how sure you are3The predictionWhat you expect, and what would mean youwere wrong4The review dateA month to a quarter out, on thecalendar5Looking backWhat happened, against what you wrote6The lessonOne thing to do differently next time
Memory rewrites old decisions to fit how they turned out. A log written at the time is the only fair record of what you knew.

Easy or hard to undo

A decision that is easy to reverse deserves a quick call and a short review. One that is hard to reverse, like a role change or a hire, deserves more options, someone affected asked, and a night’s sleep.

Reading your log

After ten or more reviewed decisions, look at the ones you rated 4 or 5. If many went worse than expected, your certainty is running ahead of your information; slow down on those.

Sources

  1. Kahneman, D., Lovallo, D., and Sibony, O. (2011). Before you make that big decision. Harvard Business Review, 89(6).
  2. Tetlock, P. E., and Gardner, D. (2015). Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction. Crown.
  3. Klein, G. (2007). Performing a project premortem. Harvard Business Review, 85(9).
  4. Fischhoff, B. (1975). Hindsight is not equal to foresight. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1(3), 288–299.

The worked examples are made up. The log counts your own ratings; it scores no decision for you. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.