Lesson 6 of 7 in Run the Week
Why this matters
The numbers move every week. The costly mistake is reacting to every movement: changing the plan on impulse because one metric jumped, or crediting a task that merely shipped in the same window. "What changed and why" separates movement from its likely drivers in careful language, which is the bridge from Measure to Learn. Decision Memory keeps a record of what you chose and why, so the context behind past calls is not lost and settled questions are not reopened every month.
When to use it
End of the week, or before you decide next week's move. Also when a number jumps and you want to know whether it matters before reacting.
Before you start
- There is something to compare: a second diagnosis or a closed measurement window (see Log a task outcome). Until then, the section shows "No change window yet".
- Know the difference between movement and cause: two things happening at once is co-occurrence, not proof.
Do this
- 1Open the "What changed and why" section on the Marketing Plan. Its job is stated on the page: "What shifted in the numbers since last time, what we think drove it, and the next move it points to."
- 2Read the latest movement first: what shifted, in which metric, over which period. Then read what the system thinks drove it. Note the softened causal language ("what we think drove it"), because most marketing movement has multiple possible causes.
- 3Read the tasks shipped alongside the movement. A task that shipped in the same window as a metric move coincided with it; the system does not claim it caused it. Never let a same-week coincidence become a success story.
- 4If a decision is pending, it surfaces in the Decision Inbox on the Plan page ("Nothing changes until you decide."), with buttons to accept, snooze, or dismiss each item.
- 5For past decisions, go to the Command Center → Decisions tab and read the "DECISION MEMORY" section, which lists what you chose, what you held, and your reason. This is where the record of your past calls lives.
What you should see
The latest movement with its evidence, capability deltas described with softened causal language, and the tasks that shipped in the window, with the co-occurrence caveat built in. Pending decisions render on the Plan; past decisions live under Command Center → Decisions.
How to judge it
You can say what moved, what the system thinks drove it, and what it still can't prove. If a decision was pending, you made it, or you know exactly where it lives.
What it does not mean
Movement is not attribution. A change observed after a task shipped was not necessarily caused by it, and sharing a window with a jump earns a task no credit on that basis alone. The section recommends a next move; it does not prove the last one worked. Decision Memory records your reasons; it does not judge whether they were right.
Try it in Signal & Science
Open the Marketing Plan and read the "What changed and why" section before you decide next week's move.
Open in Signal & Science