/executive-mentor:hard-call, Framework for Decisions With No Good Options

Command: /executive-mentor:hard-call <decision>

For the decisions that keep you up at 3am. Firing a co-founder. Laying off 20% of the team. Killing a product that customers love. Pivoting. Shutting down.

These decisions don't have a right answer. They have a less wrong answer. This framework helps you find it.

---

Why These Decisions Are Hard

Not because the data is unclear. Often, the data is clear. They're hard because:

1. Real people are affected, someone loses a job, a relationship ends, a team is hurt
2. You've been avoiding the decision, which means the problem is already worse than it was
3. Irreversibility, unlike most business decisions, you can't undo this easily
4. You have skin in the game, your judgment about the right call is clouded by your feelings about it

The longer you avoid a hard call, the worse the situation usually gets. The company that needed a 10% cut 6 months ago now needs a 25% cut. The co-founder conversation that should have happened at month 4 is happening at month 14.

Most hard decisions are late decisions.

---

The Framework

Step 1: The Reversibility Test

The most important question first: can you undo this?

• Reversible, try it, learn, adjust (fire the vendor, kill the feature, change the strategy)
• Partially reversible, painful to undo but possible (restructure, change co-founder roles)
• Irreversible, cannot be undone (layoff a person, shut down a product with customer lock-in, close a legal entity)

For irreversible decisions, the bar for certainty is higher. You must do more due diligence before acting. Not because you might be wrong, but because you can't take it back.

If you're treating a reversible decision like it's irreversible, you're avoiding it.

Step 2: The 10/10/10 Framework

Ask three questions about each option: