§Decision brief · Nicole Brandes
Before you say yes.
For owners and entrepreneurs facing a consequential choice. Read it in ten minutes. Then take twenty with a pen.
A decision can add up on paper and still not add up for you. The most expensive mistakes are rarely bad calculations. They are good calculations that leave out the person who has to live with the result.
Five questionsWhat exactly am I saying yes to, and what am I saying no to?
Every yes closes doors. Name the doors before they close quietly: the time, the freedom, the other opportunity, the version of your life that will no longer happen.
Whose interests are shaping this, including the ones nobody mentions?
Advisors, partners, family, investors, and your own pride. List every stake. Then mark the ones no one says out loud. Those usually decide more than the numbers.
If it works, will I want the life it creates?
Picture an ordinary Tuesday three years after success. Where are you, who is with you, what fills your day? If you do not want to be there, the deal is not finished being designed.
What would I see if I were not the one carrying it?
Describe the decision as if a trusted friend had brought it to you. What would you notice that you cannot see from inside? What would you tell them?
What is the smallest smart move I can make this week?
Not the whole decision. One step that gives you better information or more freedom: a conversation, a question, a deadline you move or keep.
Twenty minutes, by hand.
This week, block twenty minutes. Answer the five questions on paper, not on a screen. Then ask yourself one more: which answer surprised me? Start there.
If the decision is too important to carry alone, The Decision Room is three focused hours to look at the whole picture, together.
Send a private enquiry ↗nicole@nicolebrandes.com · Zurich · Working internationally