Intrenion

Common Decision Failures Under Commitment Pressure

Christian Ullrich
Last updated: 2026-02-08

Introduction

This document lists recurring decision failures that become apparent when work, budget, scope, or responsibility constraints arise. These failures usually arise much earlier but remain hidden as long as decisions can remain implicit, reversible, or politely ignored. They are not caused by missing analysis, poor communication, or weak execution. They result from decisions that were never stated clearly enough to carry commitment.

The list explains why apparent agreement breaks down when precision is required. It does not explain causes or propose fixes. It makes visible when a decision set is too weak to hold under pressure.

How to read this list

This list is not a checklist to complete or a diagnosis to perform. It describes patterns that become visible when decisions are tested by pressure. If these patterns appear, work may continue, but it does so without a decision basis that can reliably hold commitment.

Decision failures

  1. What was treated as a decision turns out to be intent, direction, or preference.
  2. Different stakeholders believe different outcomes were approved based on the same wording.
  3. Alternatives were discussed but never explicitly ruled out.
  4. Downsides were framed as assumptions or risks rather than as consequences.
  5. Ownership appears shared or implied, but no single person can actually commit.
  6. Responsibility for legal, financial, or operational consequences is unclear or disputed.
  7. Decisions depend on future clarification, governance, or follow-up that have not yet been decided.
  8. A verbal agreement exists, but written commitments contradict or dilute it.
  9. Decisions appear aligned until pressure forces them to be stated precisely.
  10. One decision relies on constraints that another decision quietly violates.
  11. Approval was granted for text or documentation, not for explicit decisions.
  12. Agreement holds in meetings but breaks once commitments are written down.
  13. Execution starts while fundamental decisions remain deferred in silence.
  14. Decisions are reversed informally through reinterpretation rather than explicit change.
  15. As pressure increases, previously assumed decisions reopen immediately.