TWELVE STEPS TO
DECISIONS YOU CAN DEFEND.
A methodology structured to break ingrained habits, transition through uncertainty, and sustain a culture of deliberate decision-making.
Structural Chapter Devices
Every chapter of the book is structured around three core devices designed to help you operationalize the framework immediately.
The Three Seats
Each chapter considers the work through three seats, bringing different perspectives to the same decision.
The Courageous Question
Each chapter includes a Courageous Question to support reflection on the work of that step.
The Regulatory Lens
Each chapter includes a regulatory lens, connecting its argument to the context of regulated work.
Part I, Accept It.
"What is true?"
See It
Name the inherited practice and the decision it shapes. Record what is actually happening before proposing a new way of working.
Question It
Separate a familiar belief from the evidence supporting it. Ask whether the practice still serves the outcome it was meant to protect.
Choose
Make a deliberate commitment about what to change. State the reason for that choice so others can understand and challenge it.
Take Inventory
Map current decisions, controls and responsibilities. Notice where the work follows habit rather than a reason that can be explained.
Part II, Change It.
"What are we going to do about it?"
Say It
Acknowledge the problem plainly to the people affected by it. Make the gap between the intended process and the real one discussable.
Become Willing
Identify what the current way of working protects and why change feels risky. Make room to test a different approach rather than demanding instant agreement.
Let Go
Deciding, with evidence, what should stop. Retiring the controls, the practices and the identities that no longer earn their place.
Account for It
Trace who bears the consequences of a decision and who is responsible for its rationale. Make those consequences visible before moving ahead.
Repair
Address the harm or gaps left by the old practice. Record what needs to be corrected, who will act and how the repair will be checked.
Part III, Live It.
"How do we keep doing it when the moment of transformation is over?"
Practice
Use the new decision discipline repeatedly, not only during a launch or review. Keep a record of where old habits return and adjust the routine.
Pay Attention
A reopening trigger list reviewed on a cadence. Reconsider a settled decision when the conditions that justified it change.
Give It Away
Share the reasoning and practices with others who will carry the work forward. Make the discipline usable beyond the people who began the change.
Operationalize the Framework.
Explore the Twelve Steps in the Limited Edition of The Courage to Reinvent.
Explore the Book