A human-in-the-loop risk containment practice for high-visibility decisions.
WHAT THIS IS
Pre-Commitment Decision Reflection is a short, externalised process designed to surface critical assumptions and early lock-in risks before a major decision is finalised. It does not aim to improve forecasts, replace leadership judgement, or evaluate decision quality. Its purpose is to make uncertainty, assumptions, and irreversibility explicit while there is still room to act.
WHY THIS EXISTS
As organisations increasingly rely on analytics, dashboards, and AI-driven systems to frame decision spaces, uncertainty often appears resolved earlier than it actually is. Responsibility, however, remains human. This practice creates a legitimate pause between emerging coherence and irreversible commitment.
WHEN THIS IS USEFUL
- High-visibility or high-stakes decisions
- Situations with early narrative pressure
- Decisions that will later be scrutinised
WHAT THIS IS NOT
- Consulting
- Coaching
- Auditing
- Performance evaluation
ETHICAL BOUNDARIES
This practice is not used when decisions are already irreversible, when participants cannot speak safely, or when outputs would be used to assign blame.