Asking for a Final Recommendation Only When Appropriate

Unit ID: PAW-M05-U04 Estimated active time: 20-25 minutes

When a recommendation is reasonable to ask for

It is reasonable when the decision is low-stakes and reversible, when you have supplied all the relevant facts, and when you will review it rather than execute it.

Drafting order, section sequencing, which of three headings reads better — a recommendation here saves time and costs little if it is wrong.

When it is not

It is not reasonable when the decision affects people who cannot object, when it depends on facts the tool does not have, when it is hard to reverse, or when accountability sits with a named person.

Staffing, safeguarding, pricing, discipline, clinical or legal choices. In these, asking for a recommendation invites you to borrow authority that does not exist.

Ask for the reasoning, then decide

A middle path that works well:

> Do not give a recommendation. Give the two strongest arguments for each option, and the single fact that would most change your view.

You get the analytical work without the verdict, and the last clause tells you what to go and find out.

A gate for recommendations

RECOMMENDATION GATE

Ask before requesting a recommendation:

1. Is this reversible within a week?              no  -> do not ask
2. Do I hold all the facts it depends on?         no  -> do not ask
3. Would I have to defend this to someone?        yes -> ask for reasoning only
4. Does it affect someone not in the room?        yes -> ask for reasoning only
5. Am I short of time rather than short of ideas? yes -> the answer is not a
                                                          recommendation

Question 5 catches the commonest case. Asking for a decision because you are tired is not the same as needing one.

If you do ask, ask for the conditions too

> Give your recommendation, then state what would have to be true for it to be wrong.

The second half is the part you review. A recommendation whose failure conditions you cannot check is not one you should act on.

Mini practice

Take two recent decisions.

Run both through the gate.

For the one that fails, rewrite the request to ask for reasoning and the view-changing fact instead.

Mark complete