The Decision Defensibility Check
Could this decision withstand challenge?
Use these questions to identify where confidence may be stronger than the evidence supporting it.
- 01
Evidence quality
What evidence, beyond internal reporting, supports the confidence behind this decision?
- 02
Stakeholder proximity
When did you last hear directly from the stakeholders most affected, rather than through an intermediary?
- 03
Assumption expiry
Which of the assumptions this decision relies on have not been retested since it was approved?
- 04
External validation
Has anyone outside the team that built this case been asked to challenge it?
- 05
Challenge and dissent
Was genuine dissent raised and recorded, or did the group converge too quickly?
- 06
Ownership
If this decision is challenged in twelve months, who is accountable for defending it?
- 07
Audit trail
Could you reconstruct, from the record alone, why this decision was made?
- 08
Consequences of error
What would it cost, financially, regulatorily or reputationally, if the central assumption turned out to be wrong?
Guides that help you test this
How to Challenge Groupthink in a Leadership Team: A Working Guide
This guide explains how senior leaders can surface and challenge groupthink inside an executive team without destabilising it. After reading, you will know how to spot the warning signs, structure dissent into your decision process, and build the habits that keep a leadership team honest.
How to Test Strategic Assumptions Before Committing: A Practical Guide
A working guide for senior leaders in financial services on how to surface, prioritise and stress-test the assumptions underpinning a strategic decision before capital or reputation is committed. After reading, you will know which assumptions deserve scrutiny, how to test them credibly, and when the evidence is strong enough to proceed.
Leadership Blind Spots in Major Decisions: A Working Guide
This guide identifies the specific blind spots that distort senior decisions in financial services and explains how to surface them before they cause damage. After reading, you will have a practical method for stress-testing your own judgement and that of your leadership team on consequential calls.
Where Internal Consensus Falls Short: A Decision-Maker's Guide
This guide examines the specific limitations of relying on internal consensus when making consequential decisions in financial services, and explains where executive teams routinely overestimate what their own agreement proves. After reading, you will be able to recognise when consensus is doing real work and when it is masking risk, and know what to do about it.