One discipline, one language.
A field shares a vocabulary or it argues past itself. These are the canonical definitions of Decision Assurance — written to be quoted verbatim, in the book, in the standard, and anywhere the discipline is discussed.
Decision Assurance
Decision Assurance is the discipline of systematically ensuring that a decision is made well — completely, consistently, within its governing rules, and on real evidence — and recording it so the decision can be proven and defended afterward, with accountability always resting on a human or an organization, whether the decision is made by a person, an artificial intelligence, or the two together.
The proactive discipline of ensuring, and being able to prove, that a decision was made completely, consistently, within its rules, and on the evidence — the Quality Assurance of decisions; the proactive counterpart to Decision Control.
Making sure a decision is made well — and being able to prove it later.
This is the first formal definition of Decision Assurance as a named discipline (no prior canonical definition found in a 2026 scan).
Decision Control
Decision Control is the discipline of judging an individual decision — ratifying or rejecting it at the gate and monitoring it thereafter — so a flawed decision is caught at or near the moment it is made. It is reactive and decision-by-decision, the decision counterpart to Quality Control.
The reactive discipline of ratifying, rejecting, and monitoring an individual decision at the gate — the decision counterpart to Quality Control; the complement to Decision Assurance.
The term is established in agency theory by Fama & Jensen (1983), "Separation of Ownership and Control," where decision control — ratification and monitoring — is paired with decision management. We always credit it. Our contribution is the assurance / control pairing, not the word "control."
Quality Assurance is to Quality Control as Decision Assurance is to Decision Control.
Assurance is proactive and builds the system; control is reactive and inspects the output. Assurance is what makes control trustworthy. You need both.
The decision system of record
The decision system of record is the authoritative, durable record of how consequential decisions were made — the level, the rationale, the evidence weighed, the rules enforced, and any dissent — so a decision can be found, learned from, and defended for years.
Memory is an asset. A decision you can find, learn from, and defend pays you back for years. The system of record is what turns a one-time verdict into institutional memory — and what makes the proof in "Decision Assurance" real rather than aspirational.
The five properties.
A decision earns assurance when it is all five — and can be shown to be. The properties are the working definition of "made well," made checkable.
Complete
Every relevant domain was seen and weighed — nothing material was left out of view.
Consistent
The same criteria and the same rules were applied that would be applied to any like decision.
Governed
The rules that must never break were enforced by the system, not left to memory or willpower.
Grounded
The decision rests on real evidence a stranger could check — not on a confident, unsupported claim.
On the record
Who decided, why, what was weighed, what was chosen, and what was objected to — all captured, so the decision is provable afterward.
How Decision Assurance differs from the neighbors.
Decision Intelligence
Improves how decisions are made with data and artificial intelligence — it augments the decision, in the loop. Decision Assurance assures and proves it, above the loop.
Decision Governance
Roles, rights, and policies — broader, and much of it is control. Decision Assurance is the provable, recorded assurance layer inside governance.
"Decision Control" here
Means the governance / agency-theory gate — ratify and monitor — not "corporate control" over a company. We use it in the Fama & Jensen sense.
How to use the lexicon.
- Quote the canonical sentences verbatim; do not paraphrase them in formal contexts.
- Always credit Fama & Jensen (1983) for Decision Control.
- Assurance assures the making and the proof; it never guarantees the outcome is correct. There is no zero-defect claim.
- Pair the two terms whenever either appears in a formal definition.
Adopt the language. Shape what comes next.
The lexicon is open and freely usable. Founding endorsers help refine it and the standard it underpins.