A guided decision method · work & life
Fix the work.
Reckon with life.
A guided method for working through swirling decisions, with a coach that works it through with you — thoroughly and completely.
Private, always · your words are never used to train models
The method
Hover a step to see the coach at work
Five simple steps — and a coach that makes sure you work them hard enough to end the swirl.
01
Name the Swirl
Say out loud what's actually spinning.
See the coach at work+
How the coach works this step
You've called this “the store problem” twice now. What's actually spinning — the leases, or whether you still believe in the format?
Honestly? The format.
The swirl, named
"Do we still believe in the B-Mall format — or are we renewing nine leases out of habit?"
Ends with one sentence, in your words, that you'd stand behind.
02
Clarify the Situation
Complete the map — facts, factors, constraints.
See the coach at work+
How the coach works this step
You said traffic is down. Down against what — last year, or the plan you set in March?
Against plan. Last year we'd have called it flat.
Factors on the map
Foot traffic down 18% against planFrom memo
Three sites still draw a weekday crowdYou said
Anchor tenant exits the mall in MarchFound on the web
Lease penalties cap downside at £400kFrom lease schedule
Staff morale after two closuresYou said
Pivotal factor in bold · probed, extracted, and searched
It probes what you know, extracts factors from documents you bring, and searches for the facts you don't have.
03
Define the Options
Real alternatives, not one plan and a strawman.
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How the coach works this step
Renew all nine and exit entirely aren't the only two. What would you do if lease cost weren't the issue at all?
Convert the three that still draw people, and let the rest lapse.
Options on the table
Convert three, lapse five, test oneYour lead
Renew all nine, renegotiate terms—
Exit the format entirely by Q2—
Every option has to be one you'd genuinely defend — no strawmen to knock down.
04
Score, then Feel
Weigh it on the criteria — then check your gut.
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How the coach works this step
Your scores put “convert three” ahead. Sit with that a moment — does it feel right, or only correct?
It feels right. It's the one I'd defend to the board.
Rate your options · 1 barely — 5 decisively
Option
Traffic
Lease
Total
Convert three, lapse five
5
4
62
Renew all nine
3
2
44
Exit the format
2
5
39
You set the criteria, score against them, and the totals get questioned — not obeyed.
05
Make It Real
Owners, dates, and the option you shelved.
See the coach at work+
How the coach works this step
Who opens the negotiation, and by when? And what would have to happen for the shelved option to come back?
Priya, by 14 August. If traffic holds below plan through Q4, we revisit.
Decision storyWord · PowerPoint
Meridian Home — The B-Mall Store Decision
"Convert three, lapse five, test one. Foot traffic — not lease cost — was the factor we couldn't negotiate our way out of."
Execution plan: Priya opens negotiations by 14 Aug. Exit stays shelved, ready.
Two documents, written as you went — ready to bring others along.
"The only simplicity for which I would give a straw is that which is on the other side of the complex."
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. · letter to Frederick Pollock
Why not just ask an AI?
Getting an answer is often easy — especially with AI. Getting one you'll still stand behind next week takes rigor. Uncoiling helps you work it till it works.
Completing the map
The picture gets complete before anything gets decided.
PROBE
Keeps probing for insight
It keeps asking until the vague becomes specific — surfacing the factors you'd have skipped past.
EXTRACT
Reads the documents you bring
The board memo, the lease schedule, the care assessment — it pulls out the factors worth weighing.
SEARCH
Finds the facts you don't have
Where the situation needs outside information, it goes and gets it — and brings back only what's relevant.
Three ways through
Alone, with counsel, or as a team — the method holds either way.
SOLO
Work it through yourself
One sitting, one honest conversation between you and the coach. Most swirls need nothing more.
COUNSEL
Bring in advisors
The people who know the terrain weigh in on the situation assessment — their input, your decision.
TEAM
Decide together
A team works every step asynchronously — everyone genuinely heard before anything is scored.
The swirls people bring
■ WORK
■ LIFE
What you walk away with
Two documents, ready to bring others along.
The Decision Story and the Execution Plan — complete, concise, and shareable. Each delivered in Word and PowerPoint.
Decision storyWord · PowerPoint
Northwind Instruments — The Manufacturing Footprint Decision
"The decision was not unanimous among the perspectives invited into this process, and the divergence was substantive enough to deserve a direct account."
Where you landed, and why — with every invited perspective's own weighting and scores on the record.
Execution planWord · PowerPoint
Northwind Instruments — Making It Real
"Close the bridge package by week three — Marcus to finalize the buffer stock specification and convert his two in-motion Nashville conversations into a written shortlist."
What happens next — named owners, dates, and the conditions that would reopen the call.
What it asks of you
- A stretch of honest, uninterrupted thinking.
- A coach that pushes back on vague or safe answers.
- Your head staying in it — one sitting is best.
What you get back
- A decision you can defend — to your board, your family, or yourself.
- The Decision Story and Execution Plan, written and shareable.
- The people who matter, genuinely heard.
Private, always · your words are never used to train models