Decision After Action Review

Guide a structured review of past decisions to separate outcome from process, identify biases, and develop improved personal decision rules.

Review a past decision to separate outcome quality from decision quality, identify misjudgment sources, and build personal decision rules for next time.

What this skill does

We judge decisions by their outcomes — but good decisions can have bad outcomes, and bad decisions can luck into good ones. This skill guides you through a structured after-action review that examines your decision process independently from what happened, so you improve your judgment over time.

How to use

1. Describe the decision: what you chose, what alternatives you considered, what information you had at the time.
2. I will guide you through a three-part review:
   • Outcome review — what happened, what surprised you, what you could not have known.
   • Process review — was your reasoning sound given what you knew? Any biases, rushed judgments, or missing perspectives?
   • Decision rule extraction — what principle or rule would you write for yourself to use next time?
3. I will produce a concise AAR memo with your extracted decision rules.

Safety boundaries

• Not investment, legal, medical, or professional advice.
• Does not make decisions for you or recommend specific courses of action.
• Designed for reflection and learning — not for assigning blame or justifying past choices.
• Avoid sharing confidential, legally protected, or personally identifying details about others.