Decision log
- Industry term
A decision log is a running record of decisions. Each entry says what was decided, when, by whom, and why, with the evidence, the options passed over, and what change would reopen the choice.
People remember what they chose much longer than why, and anyone who joins later sees only the result. An entry written while the evidence is at hand lets a later reader test the old reason against today's facts.
Where you’ll meet it
Your team's AI notetaker drafts decision log entries after each meeting. Today's reads “Chose vendor B for lower fees.” Nobody mentioned fees. The group chose B because it works with your calendar system.
What to do
Correct the reason before the entry is filed, and ask the notetaker to quote the transcript line behind each reason from now on. A reason it can't quote gets marked as inferred until someone who was in the meeting confirms it.
Easy to mix up
| Decision log | Audit log |
|---|---|
| Someone making a choice, in a meeting or a thread | The system, each time anyone takes an action |
Check yourself
Your log says the team chose its web host because a client contract required servers in your country, and only that host had them. The contract ended last month. A teammate says the team should now switch to a cheaper host. Is that right?
Go deeperSoftware teams keep decision records beside their code
Michael Nygard proposed architecture decision records in a 2011 blog post. Each is a short file kept with a project's code, holding a title, the context, the decision, its status, and its consequences, one file per decision.
When a decision changes, the old record stays as written and gets the status “superseded,” with a link to the record that replaces it. The log then shows what the team believed at each point, including reasoning that later proved wrong.