Why partners get stuck
In most 10–50 person professional services and agency shops, one or two partners become the routing table for every non-standard decision. Pricing exceptions, scope changes, hiring calls, vendor picks. It's not because they want to — it's because the packet coming to them is always incomplete.
The four fields that matter
- Decision needed. One sentence. If it takes two sentences, it's actually two decisions.
- Options considered. Two or three named alternatives, not a maybe-list. If there's only one option, this isn't a decision, it's an update.
- Recommendation and why. The person surfacing the decision commits to one path. Removes the "what do you think" pattern that traps partners.
- What changes if we're wrong. Reversibility. Cost of reversal. This is where most decision debate actually lives — surface it up front.
The two fields that don't
Do not include "background" or "stakeholders consulted." Both expand to fill available space and neither changes the decision. The whole point of the packet is a decision, not a memo.
How to roll it out
One cycle — usually two weeks — as a required format for anything landing on a partner's desk. If the packet feels forced or the team keeps ducking it, the format is wrong for the shop, not the team. Adjust the four fields, don't add more.