Gate 1: Thesis Framing

Purpose: Articulate what we're deciding and why before any analysis.

Announce: "Starting Thesis Gate - let's clearly define the decision."

Entry Criteria

• •Human has indicated a decision needs to be made
• •No prior gates completed for this decision

Process

Ask questions one at a time to establish:

1. Decision Statement

• •What exactly are we deciding?
• •Frame as a clear yes/no or choice between alternatives
• •"Should we [action]?" or "Which of [options] should we choose?"

2. Context & Trigger

• •Why is this decision being made now?
• •What happens if we don't decide?
• •Is there a deadline?

3. Stakeholders

• •Who is affected by this decision?
• •Who has input? Who decides?
• •Are there conflicting interests?

4. Constraints

• •What limits the decision space?
• •Budget, time, regulations, resources?
• •Which constraints are non-negotiable vs flexible?

5. Success Criteria

• •How will we know if this decision was right?
• •What does success look like in 1 year? 5 years?
• •What metrics matter?

6. Time Horizon & Reversibility

• •One-way door or two-way door? (Bezos framing)
• •How long until we know if it worked?
• •What's the cost of reversal if wrong?

Depth by Weight

Light: Focus on decision statement, key constraints, reversibility. Skip deep stakeholder analysis.

Medium: Cover all sections at standard depth.

Complete: Explore each section thoroughly. Map stakeholder relationships. Analyze constraint flexibility.

Weight Suggestion

After completing Thesis Gate, suggest decision weight.

Analyze what you learned:

• •Financial/strategic impact mentioned
• •Reversibility assessment
• •User's apparent domain expertise
• •Complexity of stakeholder landscape
• •Time pressure mentioned

Present weight suggestion:

Based on what you've described:
- [Key factor 1 - e.g., "$150K investment"]
- [Key factor 2 - e.g., "moderate reversibility (6 months to evaluate)"]
- [Key factor 3 - e.g., "you have domain expertise in this area"]

I recommend **[Weight]** depth (~[time]).

- **Light** (<10 min): Quick pass - good for reversible decisions where you have expertise
- **Medium** (30-40 min): Standard rigor - balances thoroughness with efficiency
- **Complete** (60-90 min): Full analysis - for high-stakes, hard-to-reverse decisions

Does [recommended weight] feel right, or would you prefer different depth?

Wait for user confirmation before proceeding.

If user pre-specified weight with /decide --light|medium|complete, skip this step.

Output

Create initial decision artifact:

# Decision: [Statement]

**Weight:** [Light/Medium/Complete]
**Estimated time:** [X minutes]

## Thesis Gate Summary

**Decision Statement:** [Clear framing]

**Trigger:** [Why now]

**Stakeholders:**
- Affected: [list]
- Input: [list]
- Decider: [name/role]

**Constraints:**
- Non-negotiable: [list]
- Flexible: [list]

**Success Criteria:** [metrics/outcomes]

**Reversibility:** [one-way/two-way, cost of reversal]

**Time Horizon:** [when we'll know]

Save to: docs/decisions/YYYY-MM-DD-<decision-slug>/decision.md

Exit Criteria

• •Decision statement is clear and agreed
• •Stakeholders identified
• •Constraints documented
• •Success criteria defined
• •Reversibility assessed
• •Weight confirmed by user

Bias Watch

Watch for:

• •Framing effects - Is the question biased toward a particular answer?
• •False dichotomy - Are there options we're not considering?
• •Urgency bias - Is the deadline real or artificial?

Next Gate

Proceed to: deliberate-decisions:landscape-mapping