The Kettei Card and the Watchcard

The Kettei Card is written once, when the decision is made. It is a larger form of the Ishi Card. It records the decision with its logic, what is known and not known, the options set aside, the assumptions, the boundaries, what is expected by the horizon, the exit criteria, the deliberate practice the decision needs and its AHA (pronounced A-Hey) conditions. The reverse gives the 5 Hansei questions more space. Its purpose is to write down the rationale and the knowledge at the outset, so that later judgement escapes what Annie Duke calls resulting: grading the decision by how it turned out, and the "I knew it" feeling. A Kettei Card is required for each Kettei steering decision and strongly recommended for an Ishi.

The Watchcard is one A4 page per steering decision. The decision's properties are declared on it while the decision is still Proposed: owner, scope and exclusion, reversibility, lifecycle state, coupling dependency, abort criteria and validity boundary. It is then monitored regularly, and the decision is suspended or revoked when an abort trigger fires. The Watchcard triggers the AHA; it does not record the answer. Anyone watching a trigger may pull the cord. The Owner, and only the Owner, declares an abort.

• WhenKettei Card: once, when the decision is made. Watchcard: declared before the decision goes Active, then reviewed through its life.
• Question it answersKettei Card: what was decided, and why, given what was known. Watchcard: is this decision still valid, and has anything fired.
• Where it livesThe Kettei Card has a Watchcard ID field, so card and Watchcard link. Each Watchcard is listed on the endeavour's Watchlist, one register running to as many numbered sheets as its decisions need.
• CadenceWatchkeeping certifies that each Watchcard has been reviewed for deviance. Weekly by default, not mandatory, and no more than 20 minutes a review. Event triggers do not wait for the cadence.

A published example shows the split. In The Decision That Could Not Expire, the founding decision behind the Boeing 737 MAX rested on the aircraft remaining a derivative of the 737. A Kettei Card would hold that assumption and the reasoning as it stood when the programme was launched. A Watchcard would hold a written trigger on it, such as any increase in the authority of the software compensating for the new engines, with a named owner and a response window. A trigger creates an obligation to review. Whether the review is honest, and acted on, still depends on the people in the room.