Reversible Decision Rule
Decide with incomplete information and correct course as quickly as you chose
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 7
- Confidence
- 91%
The Reversible Decision Rule treats uncertainty as a normal operating condition rather than a reason to stop. The decision-maker identifies what is known, acknowledges the missing information, and chooses the best available option instead of waiting for impossible certainty. The key safeguard is reversibility: before acting, they determine how quickly the decision can be changed and which evidence would trigger that correction. This converts a potentially wrong choice into a monitored experiment. The mechanism is speed with feedback, not recklessness—make an informed provisional choice, observe consequences, and reverse or revise it at the same pace when new evidence appears.
Origin
Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show. During her Q3 review, Jasmine described repeatedly facing unknowable questions and accepting that entrepreneurial decisions may need to be made before all relevant information is available.
Core principles
- 01Entrepreneurship rarely provides complete information
- 02Waiting for certainty carries its own cost
- 03Use the best information currently available
- 04Being wrong is acceptable when correction is possible
- 05Decision speed should be matched by correction speed
How to run it
- 1
Define the decision
State the choice that must be made and why waiting for complete information is impractical or costly.
- 2
Inventory knowledge gaps
Separate verified information from assumptions and unanswered questions.
Pro tip Focus on gaps that could materially change the choice.
Watch out Do not label avoidable research as unknowable uncertainty.
- 3
Test reversibility
Estimate the financial, operational, relational, and time costs of changing the decision later.
Pro tip Prefer small, staged commitments when reversibility is uncertain.
Watch out Do not apply a fast reversible-decision rule to irreversible harm.
- 4
Choose the best available option
Make the decision using current evidence, experience, and constraints while accepting that it may be wrong.
- 5
Set correction signals
Define the outcomes, thresholds, or new information that would justify changing course.
Pro tip Select signals before attachment to the decision grows.
- 6
Act and monitor
Implement the choice, observe the agreed signals, and gather evidence from the result.
- 7
Correct without delay
When evidence invalidates the choice, change it as quickly as the decision’s reversibility permits.
Pro tip Treat correction as competent adaptation rather than personal failure.
In the wild
A founder lacks complete evidence about which onboarding flow customers will prefer. Rather than delaying the launch indefinitely, the team selects the best-supported flow, tracks completion and support requests, and schedules a rapid revision if results fall below a threshold.
→ The company gains real evidence while preserving the ability to correct the decision.
An entrepreneur selects a campaign message from the available customer research but defines poor conversion and negative qualitative feedback as correction signals. When both appear, the message is replaced immediately rather than defended.
→ A potentially wrong decision remains a bounded experiment rather than becoming a prolonged failure.
Common mistakes
Confusing speed with guessing
The rule still requires the best available evidence and a clear statement of what remains unknown.
Using it for irreversible choices
Legal, safety-critical, reputational, or major capital decisions may demand deeper diligence because correction cannot erase the harm.
Failing to define correction signals
Without predetermined evidence for changing course, a reversible decision can become an emotionally defended commitment.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for time-sensitive, reversible business choices where delay may cost more than an imperfect first decision.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for irreversible, regulated, safety-critical, or high-stakes decisions that require formal diligence and approval.
From the transcript
“And it has been a series of answering unknowable questions and making the decision to say, I'm going to make a decision without all of…”
“And it might be wrong. And that's okay, because however fast I made that decision is, however fast I can change that decision.”
From the episode
Quarterly Review: Behind the Scenes of My Biggest Lessons of Q3