Every decision framework needs five explicit components

When This Fires

• When building any reusable decision framework for recurring decision types
• When reviewing an existing framework that produces inconsistent or unsatisfying results — check for missing components
• Before making any one-way door decision (Classify every decision as one-way or two-way door before…) that warrants structured deliberation
• When multiple stakeholders are involved in a decision and process clarity is essential

Common Failure Mode

Building frameworks with criteria only: "Here's what we evaluate hires on: technical skill, culture fit, growth potential." Without sequence (which dimension first?), time budget (how long per candidate?), kill conditions (any automatic disqualifiers?), and decision rights (does the team decide or the hiring manager?), the framework leaves more undefined than it specifies.

The Protocol

(1) When building a decision framework, include all five components explicitly: (2) Criteria: what dimensions will you evaluate? Aim for 4-7 — fewer risks missing important dimensions, more creates matrix overload. Weight each criterion (Assign criterion weights before scoring options — knowing…). (3) Sequence: in what order will you evaluate? Criterion-first across options (Score by criterion across options, not by option across…) for matrix decisions; most-constraining-criterion-first for elimination decisions. (4) Time budget: how long will you deliberate? Set a hard deadline proportional to reversibility (Classify every decision as one-way or two-way door before…). (5) Kill conditions: what automatically disqualifies an option regardless of other scores? Define these before evaluating to prevent post-hoc rationalization. (6) Decision rights: who makes the final call? Who is consulted but doesn't decide? Ambiguity here kills more group decisions than any other factor.