The 10-minute decision audit
A practical worksheet for spotting expensive mistakes before a decision becomes irreversible.
Why use an audit?
Big decisions often fail in ordinary ways: an assumption goes untested, a deadline creates urgency, or nobody is authorized to stop a process after it starts. This worksheet is an original editorial framework, not a guarantee that every loss can be prevented. Use it before signing a contract, deploying software, transferring cryptocurrency or spending an advertising budget.
Minute 1–2: write down the irreversible step
Describe the action in one sentence without sales language. Then ask what cannot be undone. A transfer may be final; a public post may be copied; a production deployment may create orders before rollback. If you cannot name the irreversible step, you probably have not defined the decision clearly enough.
Worksheet: “We are about to ______. The hardest thing to reverse is ______.”
Minute 3–4: separate evidence from assumptions
Make two columns: what you directly verified and what you were told. A screenshot, an affiliate testimonial and a live transaction record do not carry equal weight. Identify one piece of evidence that could disprove your preferred story. If you cannot find it, lower your commitment until you can.
Worksheet: “Our key assumption is ______. We would change our mind if ______.”
Minute 5–6: calculate a tolerable loss
Choose a maximum loss in dollars, time and reputation before acting. A position size or daily budget that looks small in isolation may become large if a system repeats it. Add up the worst permitted repetition, not just the cost of the first action.
Worksheet: “Maximum loss we can accept: $______, ______ hours, and ______.”
Minute 7–8: install the stop mechanism
Who has authority to stop the action? What signal tells them to do it? Is the stop mechanism tested? Knight Capital's 2012 trading malfunction illustrates why monitoring without an effective response can be inadequate. Our source-linked case study explains the SEC record and distinguishes the findings from our analysis.
Worksheet: “If ______ happens, ______ will stop the process using ______.”
Minute 9–10: sleep on the incentive
Ask who profits if you act immediately and who bears the downside if the pitch is wrong. A commission does not automatically make advice false, but it changes the incentive. When urgency is supplied by the seller rather than a real deadline, a pause is often inexpensive.
Worksheet: “The strongest reason to wait is ______. The cost of waiting one day is ______.”
Worked example: a new affiliate offer
Suppose a publisher is promised unusually high commissions for recommending an unfamiliar service. The irreversible step is sending readers to it under the publisher's name. Verify the operator, read payout terms, test the product where practical, disclose compensation and cap promotional spend. If any claim cannot be substantiated, leave it out. A revenue opportunity is not worth inventing evidence.
How this guide was prepared
This is our original decision worksheet, informed by the failure modes explored in our Knight Capital, FTX and Theranos case studies. It is general educational material, not individualized legal, investment or financial advice.