Evidence Checklist — use before you finalize a decision

Run through this short checklist to avoid common evidence gaps. It’s intentionally compact — use it for tactical and strategic decisions.

1. Define the outcome you care about — Do you have one clear metric or customer outcome that will show success?
2. Shortlist options — Are at least two reasonable alternatives recorded (including 'do nothing')?
3. Identify key evidence — For each option, list the single strongest supporting fact or test result.
4. Estimate the main risk — Name the most likely thing to go wrong and one mitigation.
5. Assign a clear owner — Who is accountable for the choice and for measuring outcomes?
6. Set a review date — When will you check whether the decision worked and capture what you learned?
7. Keep it concise — If capturing this takes longer than 30–60 minutes for tactical decisions, consider whether you’ve misclassified the decision or need a smaller pilot.

Use this checklist as a pre-launch gate: if two or more items are missing, pause and capture the gap before proceeding.