Decision review
Independent estimates, competing models, and testing the hypotheses that could not be resolved earlier.
How it works inside the circle
The circle is the core. The protocol makes room for people.
Most questions receive solo and asynchronous review before the meeting. The circle therefore does not become a conveyor belt of reports: structure takes only half the time.
One meeting, two kinds of value
Decisions get discipline. People get space.
Open circle
Conversation without a fixed agenda: experience, business, AI, new ideas, and mutual support through difficult periods.
The first Minsk cohort has seven meetings every two weeks, from 15 September to 8 December. The online group will begin once a compatible cohort has formed.
Decision route
Before the meeting, a question takes the lightest useful path.
The protocol is not the centre of the community. It stops procedure from consuming the time participants want to spend with one another.
Rule→Experiment→REAL→Panel→Meeting→Decision→Outcome
Rule
If a situation repeats and a good rule already exists, a full review is unnecessary.
Experiment
If a key assumption can be tested quickly and safely, reality can answer before discussion does.
REAL or solo review
The decision owner separates the desired result, evidence, assumptions, and genuine alternatives.
Independent panel
Members respond before seeing other positions. Different signals remain independent.
Meeting for the remainder
Only material disagreement, competing models, or questions needing missing experience enter the room.
Decision
The group does not vote. The owner chooses an action, review condition, and review date.
Outcome review
The owner sets a natural horizon, usually 4–6 weeks and no later than 90 days. The expectation is then compared with what happened.
REAL worksheet
Four steps to stop thinking in circles.
REAL is a short solo process for decisions that do not yet require full group work.
Use the guided toolResult
What exactly must be decided, what result is needed, and by when?
Evidence
What is a fact, observation, interpretation, assumption, or unknown?
Alternatives & Attack
Which alternatives are real, and why might the preferred option be wrong?
Launch & Learn
What small next step can you take, what will you measure, and when will you review?
Stopping states
REAL should end in one of four states.
- 01Decide now
- 02Run a small test
- 03Obtain one important fact
- 04Request independent responses
Repeated internal discussion is not a fifth option.
The full cycle
A decision is part of a longer practice.
The cycle does not end after action: the expectation is compared with the outcome, and the model is updated before the next decision.
Evidence
The components have support. Their integration is unvalidated.
Independent estimates, structured expert judgment, alternative generation, premortems, small experiments, and decision journals have varying degrees of empirical support.
But the effectiveness of this exact combination, sequence, and continuing-circle format has not been established. The first Minsk cohort is a pilot of usability and measurement, not scientific proof of effectiveness.
The site does not claim unsupported percentages of “correct decisions.” It publishes expectations recorded in advance, outcomes, and protocol failures.
When a circle is needed