Keep a Light Record of Material Decisions
The First-Year Evidence File
Companion to The CTO You Actually Need · Updated 2026-09-29
Maintain a light record of material decisions and outcomes. It gives the organization a memory of why it decided as it did.
For each material decision record:
- Date and decision.
- Business context.
- Options considered.
- Evidence and uncertainty.
- Decision owner and contributors.
- Expected consequence and guardrails.
- Revisit trigger.
- Later result and learning.
At 90, 180, and 365 days, review a sample. The quality of the decision system is visible in these records.