Resources

Tools for Decision Feedback Analysis

This page consolidates all the tools you need to start practicing Drucker's feedback analysis discipline. Everything here is free to use. Copy the spreadsheets, modify them for your context, and make them your own.

1. Ultraworking Monthly Planning Spreadsheet

What It Is: A structured spreadsheet for capturing what you expect to happen, what actually happens, and comparing the two. This is Drucker's feedback analysis in spreadsheet form.

What It Includes:

  • Debrief Tab: "Factually, what happened?" (daily/weekly capture)
  • Evaluate Tab: "So, how is life going?" (monthly review)
  • Prioritize Tab: "What matters most?" (capacity constraints)
  • Operationalize Tab: "What will I actually do?" (next month's plan)

How to Use It:

  1. Make a copy of the spreadsheet
  2. Fill out the Debrief tab at the end of each day or week
  3. At the end of the month, review the Evaluate tab
  4. Use the Prioritize tab to decide what to focus on next month
  5. Capture your plan in the Operationalize tab
  6. Repeat

Get the Ultraworking Spreadsheet

Note: Just leave an email and tell a friend. That's the only "cost."

2. Strategy A3 Template

What It Is: A multi-sheet visual tool for organizational alignment. It captures current business conditions, strategic intent, tactical actions, and review cadence in one place.

What It Includes:

  • Current State: What's happening now (factually, not aspirationally)
  • Strategic Intent: Where we're trying to go
  • Tactical Actions: What we're doing this week/month
  • Review Cadence: Weekly check-ins (10-20 minutes, no longer)

How to Use It:

  1. Make a copy of the template
  2. Fill out the Current State (what's actually happening in your context)
  3. Define Strategic Intent (clear, specific, time-bound)
  4. List Tactical Actions (what you're doing this week)
  5. Review weekly (10-20 minutes, compare plan vs. reality)
  6. Adjust based on what you learn

Get the Strategy A3 Template

Note: This is the tool used at the paper mill to capture the gap between what was actually happening and what the dashboard reports showed.

3. Tiny Habits Worksheet

What It Is: A simple framework for building new habits by starting small. Based on Dr. BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits methodology.

What It Includes:

  • Anchor Moment: An existing habit that triggers the new behavior
  • Tiny Behavior: A new, simple action (less than 30 seconds)
  • Instant Celebration: A positive emotional response to wire the habit

How to Use It:

  1. Choose an existing habit (e.g., "After I brush my teeth...")
  2. Add a tiny behavior (e.g., "I will write down one thing that happened today")
  3. Celebrate immediately (e.g., "I captured it!")
  4. Repeat for 21 days (they don't have to be consecutive)

Example for Decision Capture:

  • Anchor: After I close my laptop at the end of the day...
  • Tiny Behavior: I will write down one decision I made and what I expected to happen
  • Celebration: "I captured it!" (internal or external)

Tiny Habits Worksheet:

HabitAnchor Moment (Existing Habit)Tiny Behavior (New Habit)Instant Celebration
1After I...I will...I will...
2After I...I will...I will...
3After I...I will...I will...

21-Day Reflection Questions:

  • What did I learn?
  • What did I do?
  • What worked?
  • Can I do it for 21 days?

How These Tools Work Together

Tiny Habits → Build the habit of daily capture (21 days)

Ultraworking Spreadsheet → Structure your monthly planning and review

Strategy A3 → Align your team around shared intent and reality

The Discipline: Observe, compare, adjust, repeat. The tools make it easier. The discipline makes it work.

Additional Resources

Books:

  • Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker (HBR, 1999) — The foundational article on feedback analysis
  • Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg (2019) — The science of habit formation
  • Wardley Maps by Simon Wardley (2018) — Strategic positioning and evolution

Frameworks:

Contact:

Confidentiality Note

All figures, timelines, and specific organizational details in this knowledge base have been anonymized to protect confidentiality. Ranges and approximations represent the scale and impact of the work while respecting proprietary information and organizational privacy.