Decision Timing: Point, Not Period

The standard

A documented timing choice records why the decision fell at this moment and not earlier or later within the window. Without a documented timing choice, an earlier or later moment cannot be distinguished from chance.

Criteria

• The moment lies within an already open decision window
• It is recorded as a single point, not as a period
• The choice of moment within the window carries its own justification
• Earlier and later possible moments are named

Distinction

Decision timing ≠ Decision Window: the window is the timespan in which a choice remains possible, the documented timing choice the point at which it falls. Decision timing ≠ decision rule: the rule determines what is triggered, the timing only when.