Decision log — A decision log is a record of decisions made, including context and rationale.

In plain English

A decision log captures what was decided — and sometimes why.

It exists so decisions don’t get rewritten later.

What they actually mean

Decision logs exist because memory is selective.

They protect against:

“That’s not what we meant”

silent reversals

and decisions that quietly change owners

If no one wants to write the decision down, it probably wasn’t real.

Example

Does it actually matter?

Yes — organizationally.
Decision logs prevent the same debates from repeating every quarter.

Without them, decisions slowly dissolve back into opinions.