Decision Freeze (Cooling-Off Lock)
Pause a pressured decision before its irreversible steps: what waits, what prep continues, unlock and reopen criteria set in advance.
Before & after
Same prompt, same agent — the only difference is the skill.
It's good that you're thinking carefully about this decision before moving forward. Taking time to consider the implications is wise. You might want to discuss it with key stakeholders to get their input and make sure everyone is on the same page. Consider whether there are any risks or unintended consequences you haven't thought about yet. It can be helpful to document your reasoning so you remember why you made this decision. You could set a calendar reminder to revisit the decision after a week or two to see if your thinking has changed. Sleeping on major decisions often provides clarity. Is there anything specific you're concerned about with this decision?
DECISION FROZEN Command: /cs:freeze 'Shut down analytics service to save 8k/month' 30 Decision details: What: Deprecate in-house analytics, migrate to third-party vendor Why: Reduce infrastructure headcount (1 engineer), save 8k/month ops Posted by: VP Engineering on 2026-07-31 at 14:22 UTC Locked until: 2026-08-30 at 14:22 UTC (30 days) Status: FROZEN (reversals blocked) OVERRIDE CONDITIONS (require leadership consensus) Customer escalation requesting feature parity (1 high-value customer flagged) Third-party vendor ceases service or doubles pricing Internal discovery of major security issue with vendor COOLDOWN TIMELINE Day 1-7: Team voice objections in decision-log (recorded) Day 8-14: Objections compiled, VP reviews, override decision made Day 15-30: Status quo maintained, no action Day 30: Decision unlocks, execute immediately or extend 30 more days IF REVERSED (within 30-day window) Reason logged: Why decision was reversed Effort to reverse: Restart analytics service, recover migration timeline Estimated delay: 2 additional weeks to production DECISION LOG (frozen) Day 2: 'Customer Success says 3 clients depend on this for billing reconciliation' → Logged Day 5: 'Analytics team capacity already cut 50%, feels reactive' → Logged Day 12: VP reviews objections, decides: proceed (override rejected)
About this skill
Big decisions made in a panic, and sudden reversals of considered ones, both cost companies dearly. This skill puts a short, honest cooling-off lock between deciding and doing, without letting preparation stall or a hard deadline slip.
What it does
- Splits execution steps into reversible preparation (continues) and irreversible steps (frozen): notices, signatures, announcements, deletions, payments
- Sets a freeze length from stakes and reversibility, and checks it against legal, contractual, and payroll deadlines
- Writes unlock criteria and reopen criteria before the freeze starts, so new information is defined in advance
- Runs a reversal test when someone wants to undo a decision early
- Is honest that it records and schedules the lock; it cannot enforce it
What you get
A one-screen freeze record to paste into your decision log: frozen steps, allowed prep, keeper, unlock and reopen criteria, override rule, and the check-in at unlock.
Best for
Founders and leadership teams facing layoffs, large contracts, pricing changes, or announcements decided under pressure. Not for hiring freezes or code freezes.
SKILL.md preview
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name: decision-freeze
description: Put a cooling-off period on a big decision made under pressure (a layoff plan, a large contract, a pricing change, a public announcement, a sudden reversal) - separate what can safely be prepared now from the irreversible steps that must wait, set a real unlock date, define in advance what evidence would reopen it, and check the freeze does not miss a hard external deadline. Use when the user says "we decided this in a panic, should we sleep on it?", "lock this decision for a week", "I want to reverse what we agreed yesterday", "don't let me sign this until Monday", "cooling-off period before we announce", or "put a freeze on this decision".
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