What I research
I am interested in how people and organisations make decisions. On which signals, how a decision becomes a promise and an action, what result it leads to and what that result teaches.
One chain
A conversation is one of the signals here, next to data, events and what people actually do. A conversation does not prove execution, and execution does not yet prove a result.
- SignalFacts, data, events and conversations a person notices before deciding. And what they miss.
- DecisionThe option chosen, including the decision to do nothing. What the alternatives were and what the choice rested on.
- CommitmentWho takes responsibility, for what, by when, and how we will know it worked.
- ActionWhat was actually done after the decision.
- OutcomeWhat came of it and how that differs from the expectation.
- LearningWhat held, what did not, and how that changes the next decision.
Where the material comes from
- Work with companies. In Founder Sprint and Co-management I see real decisions and what happens to them next. I publish only with the client’s consent and without recognisable details.
- Conversations with owners. Founders Podcast is in preparation.
- My own practice. I have been recording my conversations for 14 years, and I test mechanisms on myself first and only then offer them to others. My personal lab for this is called CoFlow.
How I check conclusions
First an observation, then a hypothesis, then a test on data. I call one case an observation, not a law. If there is no result yet, I say so. Lines of code, features or recorded hours are not evidence to me. Evidence is what was decided, why, who committed, what was done and what came of it.
Where I am now
The years are a guide, not a promise. You cannot skip a step that has not been tested.
2026
Learn to reliably notice and record signals, decisions, commitments, owners, deadlines and agreed next steps.
2027
Test whether such a record helps decisions get done.
2028
Link decision, action and result, and understand the limits of such conclusions.
Later
Test whether the accumulated history improves the next decisions.
Open questions
- Where does a decision most often break between the meeting and the action?
- How do you tell a decision from an intention before it is too late?
- Which signals do people notice before deciding, and which do they miss?
- When does writing a decision down help, and when does it turn into bureaucracy?
Observations
- I killed the conversation in the first ten minutesKnowing the rule doesn’t stop you breaking it. Mechanics do.Field note · 3 min
- One topic per conversationOne idea per contact. Let it settle, then come back.Field note · 3 min
- Poker, venture capital and one uncomfortable ruleA fund has seventy bets. A founder has one company, and no second hand.Field note · 4 min