Framework
Create, Collaborate, Communicate
A simple model for running a decision: decide how much of it you Create yourself, who you Collaborate with, and how you Communicate it — so everyone knows whether they're being asked to shape a call or just hear it.
Most decision friction is a mismatch of expectations: people think they're collaborating when you've already decided, or you think you communicated something you never actually created a clear view on. Naming which mode you're in removes most of that friction before it starts.
Credit: Outstride original
Create
You form the strategy or decision yourself, or with a cofounder. The thinking work only you can do — don't outsource it to a meeting.
Collaborate
Bring in the few people who should genuinely shape the call. Ask for input, dissent and feedback while it's still open — not after it's fixed.
Communicate
Once it's decided, share it and the why with everyone who has to act on it. This is not the moment to reopen the debate.
In a ~30-person company, most big calls run the same way: the founders and heads collaborate, and once that's done it gets communicated to the team. Trouble starts when you skip a stage — communicating something you never collaborated on, or 'collaborating' on something you'd already decided.
Gate the big bets
For major decisions, add a gate: no big bet enters Create until the company has capacity for it. Cap the number of simultaneous bets — two or three, not seven — so the company takes focused shots on goal instead of scattering effort. The gate question is simple: "If we say yes to this, which current bet does it slow down?" A decision that can't answer it isn't ready to be created, let alone communicated.
Source / credit
Outstride original
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