go-nogo-memo

Go / No-Go Memo

Part of the discovery-phase skill pack · deliverables group · reads discovery-context.md (run profile-builder first if missing).

The terminal decision document. Everything before this fed into it; everything after follows from it. In outsourcing, the agency recommends, the client decides — the memo must support both perspectives.

When to run

• End of any discovery cycle
• Standalone if BA brings in evidence from elsewhere and just needs to write the memo
• Re-run after major new evidence (re-versioned)

Differs from proposal: proposal is commercial (here's what we'd do, please sign); memo is decisional (here's what we believe, please decide). They can co-exist.

Step 1 — Read context + scan evidence

Read discovery-context.md (section 5. Expected deliverable). Then scan ./discovery/ for available artifacts — even partial discovery can produce a memo, but flag the gaps explicitly in the memo's "Evidence" section.

If discovery-context.md is missing, ask the BA inline: "who's the decision-owner (client / agency / both) and what decision are we framing (proceed / pivot / kill)?" — tag the output [ASSUMED FRAMING]. Never block; recommend profile-builder for high-stakes work.

Step 2 — Force the decision first

Before writing anything, ask the BA:

"Based on what we have, what's the recommendation: GO / PIVOT / KILL? One word. We'll justify on paper next."

If they hesitate, probe:

• "What's the one finding that would flip this to the opposite answer?"
• "If you had to bet 10% of the agency's quarterly capacity (or your own time) on this, would you?"
• "Imagine this memo arrived from another team. Would you approve their recommendation?"

The memo serves the recommendation. No defensive prose.

Step 3 — Clarify the decision split (outsourcing)

Two roles must be explicit:

• Recommendation owner — the agency BA / lead. Owns the recommendation in the memo.
• Decision owner — typically the client (per discovery-context.md engagement). The memo gives them what they need to decide.