# Reading, discussion, and decision records

## In-room or live remote review

Amazon's 2017 letter describes silent reading at the beginning of meetings. It also
emphasizes repeated revision and peer feedback rather than a mechanical recipe for
excellent memos. Bryar/Carr's suggested reading allocations are in the length guide;
adapt them to the actual agenda rather than treating them as mandatory timers.

Before the meeting, have a peer challenge the argument and check the key evidence.
For the review itself, identify the decision owner and purpose in the invitation or
draft plan. Start from the same version, reserve reading time, and allow annotation
without demanding that every reader finish at an identical speed. Provide accessible
formats and advance reading where needed. Avoid reading the memo aloud as a presentation.

After reading, clarify factual questions, then discuss the alternatives and the most
consequential disagreement. Invite dissent before the decision owner concludes.
Separate an objection that blocks a safe decision from a preference that can be
recorded without unanimity. If the evidence is inadequate, decide what to learn next,
who owns it, and when the question returns.

Finish with a durable record: decision or deferral, owner, rationale, dissent,
assumptions, actions and dates, plus the condition that would reopen the decision.
Link to the reviewed version so later edits do not rewrite history.

## Async review

For a distributed team, propose a reading/comment window long enough for its time
zones and working schedules. State the deadline and decision owner, identify required
reviewers, and distinguish advisory comments from blocking concerns according to
local governance. Label facts and assumptions; resolve questions in visible threads.

Have the owner summarize tradeoffs and unresolved dissent before recording the
outcome. Silence is not agreement unless an explicit local process defines it that
way. Escalate a consequential unresolved conflict to a focused live discussion rather
than letting a comment thread run indefinitely. Record the result back in the document.

These are recommended adaptations. GitLab, Basecamp, Automattic, Coinbase, and Netflix
offer different mechanisms; do not label this combined workflow an official format
from any one of them. Drafting a review plan does not send invitations or comments.