The Decision Triangle: a simple way to improve decision making

Every decision can be broken down to a trigger, a desired future, and an action. The author calls this the Decision Triangle and shows how even a simple lunch choice contains these three parts, exposing hidden urgency and intent. By naming the trigger you surface why a decision matters now, and by stating the desired future you make the underlying goal explicit, turning vague intuition into a concrete target.

When decisions have higher stakes, like choosing a mortgage, the basic triangle isn't enough. The piece adds four layers-context, conditions, scenarios, and analysis-to deepen quality. Context separates internal constraints from external forces; conditions spell out constraints and break points; scenarios map out alternative futures; analysis evaluates likelihood and data. These steps turn a gut feeling into a documented, testable plan.

The article also stresses post-decision reflection. After a decision is made you should log obstacles, how the future unfolded, and learnings. This hindsight loop reveals whether the analysis was sound or luck played a role, and highlights patterns across decisions, such as stalled implementations that need to be killed. By treating decisions as living artifacts, teams can continuously improve their decision-making process.

Technical leaders can adopt this framework to make documentation more actionable, align cross-functional teams around explicit goals, and create a culture where decisions are revisited and refined rather than disappearing into static records.