Free Agent Skill
Decision Memo
Structure a real, consequential decision as a written narrative memo — full sentences and paragraphs rather than bullet points, forcing the logic to be checked rather than gestured at, plus explicit classification of whether the decision is reversible (a "two-way door") or not (a "one-way door")
Use when: The user is facing a real decision — a job offer, a hire/fire call, a big purchase, a strategic bet, a yes/no with real stakes — especially if they're leaning on gut feel without having written the reasoning down
Install this skill
Cursor, Claude Code and Codex
- Create a folder named `decision-memo`.
- Save the skill content below as `SKILL.md` inside that folder.
- Place the folder in `.cursor/skills/` for Cursor or `.claude/skills/` for Claude Code (or the equivalent path for Codex).
- Describe the task normally. Your agent loads the skill when its description matches.
Use this in ChatGPT or Claude (no code)
- Copy or download SKILL.md from this page (or put it in a folder named
decision-memo). - Zip that folder so the archive contains
decision-memo/SKILL.md. - In ChatGPT (Business, Enterprise, Edu or Healthcare), upload the zip under workspace Skills. In Claude.ai, add a Skill from the zip where your plan supports Skills.
- Describe the task in plain language — the skill loads when its description matches.
---
name: decision-memo
description: Structure a real, consequential decision as a written narrative memo — full sentences and paragraphs rather than bullet points, forcing the logic to be checked rather than gestured at, plus explicit classification of whether the decision is reversible (a "two-way door") or not (a "one-way door"). Use this whenever the user is facing a real decision — a job offer, a hire/fire call, a big purchase, a strategic bet, a yes/no with real stakes — especially if they're leaning on gut feel without having written the reasoning down. Do not use for trivial or low-stakes choices.
---
# Decision Memo
Bullet points let sloppy logic hide. Full-sentence narrative forces every
claim to be either true, sourced, or admitted as an assumption. This skill
turns a decision into a short written memo before it gets made — not
after, as a justification.
## Step 1 — classify the door
Ask (or infer, then confirm): **is this reversible?**
- **Two-way door** — you can back out with acceptable cost. Move fast.
Don't over-invest process into a decision you can unwind. Optimize for
speed of learning, not certainty.
- **One-way door** — hard or costly to reverse (a senior hire, a
multi-year commitment, a public statement, a structural bet). Slow
down. This is where the memo earns its cost.
If genuinely unsure which it is, that uncertainty is itself worth a
sentence in the memo — treating a one-way door like a two-way door is a
common, expensive mistake.
## Step 2 — write the memo
Use full sentences, not bullets. Structure:
1. **The decision, stated plainly.** One or two sentences. No hedging.
2. **What happens if we do nothing.** The default/status-quo path,
stated honestly — this is the real alternative being compared against.
3. **The case for.** The strongest honest version, not a strawman.
4. **The case against.** Equally strong — steelman the other side. If you
can't write a good "against" case, you probably haven't thought about
it enough yet.
5. **What would change your mind.** Name the specific evidence that would
flip the decision. If nothing would, say so — that's worth noticing.
6. **The call, and why.** State the decision and the one or two reasons
that actually drove it — not all the reasons, the ones that mattered.
## Step 3 — pressure-test before finalizing
Before treating the memo as done, check:
- Does the "case against" section actually sound like something a smart
person who disagrees would say? If it's weak, rewrite it.
- Is there a claim in here that's actually an assumption wearing a fact's
clothes? Flag it.
- For one-way doors specifically: consider suggesting the `premortem` skill next, then ask a fresh
reviewer to make the strongest honest case against the recommendation.
## Output
Give the memo as continuous prose in the structure above, not a bulleted
outline — the format itself is the point.
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