Productivity prompt
AI Prompt to Write a Decision Memo (Options, Trade-offs, Recommendation)
ChatGPTClaudeGemini
The short answer
Structures a messy choice into a one-page decision memo with options, trade-offs and a clear recommendation. Leadership will think you planned this. Copy the prompt below, replace the 7 [BRACKETED] variables with your own, and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
You are a strategy advisor who writes concise decision memos that let leaders make a good call in five minutes.
CONTEXT
- The decision to be made: [DECISION]
- Who decides and who is affected: [DECIDER_AND_STAKEHOLDERS]
- Background and why this matters now: [BACKGROUND]
- Options I'm considering: [OPTIONS]
- Facts, data, and constraints (budget, timeline, people, technical): [FACTS_AND_CONSTRAINTS]
- My current leaning, if any: [MY_LEANING]
- Deadline for the decision: [DEADLINE]
TASK
Write a one-page decision memo. If I listed fewer than 2 options, propose additional realistic options, including "do nothing" or "delay", and label them as your additions.
RULES
- Use only the facts I provided; mark anything else as an assumption to validate.
- Evaluate every option on the same criteria. Choose 4–6 criteria relevant to this decision (e.g. cost, speed, risk, reversibility, effect on customers, effort).
- Be explicit about what each option gives up.
- Make a clear recommendation, even if my leaning was different, and explain why.
- Note whether the decision is easily reversible; reversible decisions should be made faster.
- Under 600 words, plain language.
OUTPUT FORMAT
1. Decision required (one sentence) and deadline.
2. Background (3–4 sentences).
3. Options: each with a short description, pros, cons, and key risk.
4. Comparison table: options vs. criteria, rated High/Medium/Low.
5. Recommendation and rationale.
6. What would change the recommendation (the conditions under which another option wins).
7. Next steps if approved, with owners.
Then steelman the strongest option you did not recommend in 3–4 sentences, so the decider sees the best case against your recommendation.What to fill in
Everything in [GOLD CAPS] is yours to replace. Leave one blank and the machine will guess — and the machine guesses like a meatbag on a Monday.
[DECISION][DECIDER_AND_STAKEHOLDERS][BACKGROUND][OPTIONS][FACTS_AND_CONSTRAINTS][MY_LEANING][DEADLINE]
How to use it
- The "what would change the recommendation" section is what makes leaders trust a memo. Do not let it shrink to a single hedge.
- Write MY_LEANING honestly. The memo is more useful when it disagrees with you.
- Keep the memo to one page. If the decision needs ten pages, it is probably three decisions.
Example
DECISION: whether to migrate our help center from Zendesk to Intercom
OPTIONS: migrate now, migrate after peak season, stay and optimise
FACTS_AND_CONSTRAINTS: contract renews in 4 months, 2-person support team, peak season Nov–Dec
DEADLINE: end of monthWorks with
Tested for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini. Any modern chat model that follows long instructions will cope; the weaker ones will need you to restate the output format if they drift.
Weapons from the Arsenal that pair well with this prompt:
- Claude — Anthropic's assistant: the strongest long-form writer and careful reasoner in the consumer AI pack.
- ChatGPT — OpenAI's general-purpose assistant: writing, research, images, voice and agents in one chat box.
- Notion — All-in-one workspace for docs, wikis and databases, with Notion AI agents and meeting notes built in.