A useful decision includes the question that will remain open afterward.

Most decisions settle less than they appear to. Choosing the school, the treatment or the job answers one question and leaves another live, such as whether it is working, or what happens if the situation changes in a year. Pretending everything is now resolved is how people end up surprised by something they could have watched for.

When you decide something, write down what is still uncertain and how you will know. Set a date to look at it again rather than waiting for a crisis to raise the subject. Naming the open question does not weaken the decision, and it usually makes the next one easier.