01 · Strategic choice
WHAT TO CHECK
A choice is meaningful only if the alternatives answer the same decision question, on the same horizon. The status quo is an alternative too: it makes the cost of acting and the cost of waiting comparable.
Selecting an option directs scarce attention, budget and capabilities. The record should state what will not be funded, served or built, so that the trade-off can be challenged before resources are committed.
A decision is not a promise that the future will conform to it. It should name the assumption that matters most, the observable signal that would weaken it and the date at which the choice is reviewed.
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Use the question “What turns an intention into a genuine strategic choice?” as a contract: name the owner, deadline, scope and alternatives before collecting more material. A strategic choice selects one plausible option, commits resources and explicitly rules out other paths. Record what is deliberately outside scope, who can challenge the framing and what consequence follows from postponement. This prevents an attractive framework, actor list or market story from silently replacing the decision that the analysis is meant to support.
VALIDATION DOSSIER
For every material statement, retain the original source, publication date, observation period, method, unit and relevant population. Distinguish observed facts, calculated estimates, interview judgements and assumptions. Connect the register to the promised output: An explicit decision, its rationale, its trade-offs and its reopening rule. Missing or contradictory evidence remains visible with a responsible owner and a collection action; it is never converted into certainty merely to complete the page.
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Define the rules before applying the analysis: inclusion criteria, identifiers, comparison set, calculation or coding convention, treatment of missing values and version date. Reproduce the same convention across every option or actor. Use the page checks as acceptance tests, beginning with “Set out at least two credible alternatives, including the status quo.” A conclusion is usable only when another practitioner can reconstruct how the inputs became the displayed result and identify where judgement entered.
LIMIT
