The Decision Triangle: a simple way to improve decision making

Overview The article introduces the Decision Triangle, a simple visual model that breaks every decision into three essential elements - a trigger, a desired future, and an action. It explains how the model can be applied to both casual (e.g., lunch) and impactful engineering decisions, and shows its relationship to existing practices such as ADRs, decision quality frameworks, and product planning techniques.

Key Takeaways

• Every decision can be expressed as a trigger, a desired future, and an action.
• Making the trigger explicit adds urgency and context to decision discussions.
• Stating the desired future clarifies intent and aligns stakeholders, similar to user stories or OKRs.
• The model works for quick, System 1 decisions as well as strategic, high-impact choices.

Who Would Benefit

• Engineering managers looking to improve decision documentation.
• Technical leads who need a lightweight framework for team decisions.
• Architects and product owners who want to align decisions with outcomes.
• Anyone interested in better decision-making practices.

Frameworks and Methodologies

• Decision Quality framework
• Architectural Decision Records (ADR)
• Working Backwards / Press Release technique
• Hypothesis-Driven Development