Jonathan Haber, based in Montreal, Quebec, is adopting a personal decision-log policy designed to reduce confusion, speed execution, and protect deep work.
MONTREAL, QC / ACCESS Newswire / January 22, 2026 / Jonathan Haber, Founder and CEO of Haber Strategies Inc., today announced a personal operating policy he will apply across his advisory work and weekly routine: every meaningful decision must be recorded in a simple decision log within 24 hours, with an owner and a next step.
John Haber's announcement is aimed at a problem that shows up in early-stage teams and established organizations alike: decisions get made in meetings and chats, then disappear, then get re-litigated when pressure rises.
Miscommunication is not a small tax. Grammarly has estimated that miscommunication costs U.S. businesses $1.2 trillion each year, and earlier reporting connected breakdowns to an estimated $12,506 per employee per year.
Microsoft's Work Trend Index research has also highlighted how communication can crowd out focus. It reports the average employee spends 57% of their time communicating and 43% creating, and 62% say they struggle with too much time spent searching for information.
In newer Microsoft analysis, employees are interrupted every two minutes on average, about 275 times per day, by meetings, emails, or chat notifications, and meetings starting after 8 p.m. are up 16% year over year.
Atlassian has reported that poor teamwork can translate into 25 billion work hours lost.
Jonathan says the fix is not more tools. It is better decision hygiene.
What changed
John's policy has one core requirement and two supporting habits.
The core rule: within 24 hours of a meaningful decision, write a short entry that includes:
the decision
the reason
the owner
the next step
the date
Supporting habit: reserve one weekly deep-work day for synthesis, frameworks, and documentation, protecting time to convert conversations into usable artifacts.
Supporting habit: keep a weekly metrics scoreboard tied to activation and retention, so decisions can be revisited based on signals, not vibes.
Why it works
Jonathan's career has repeatedly placed him at the point where ambiguity becomes expensive: onboarding, handoffs, and retention. In customer success work at MileBridge Software, he saw how unclear setup and unclear first value can drive churn. In product operations at NorthHarbor Systems, he built playbooks and feedback loops that made work repeatable. At Cooper & Field Labs, he focused on simplifying setup paths and standardizing documentation.
John says the decision log is the smallest unit of clarity that a team can maintain under stress.
Quotes from Jonathan Haber:
"If a decision matters, it deserves a home that is not a chat thread."
"Most rework is not caused by bad effort. It is caused by missing context."
"I want fewer meetings that create heat, and more notes that create forward motion."
"A decision log is a kindness to the future version of your team."
How success is measured
Jonathan will track this policy using practical, observable measures:
Fewer reopened decisions, measured by how often the same topic returns without new data
Faster execution, measured by time from decision to first shipped or implemented step
Cleaner onboarding paths, measured by fewer stuck points and fewer help requests during setup
Better operating cadence, measured by fewer ad hoc escalations and clearer ownership
Stronger retention thinking, measured by decisions tied to activation and retention signals
John will also treat the log itself as a leading indicator: if decisions are not being recorded, it usually means priorities are drifting or roles are unclear.
Copy my approach: 10 steps you can implement
Create a single decision log document. Keep it boring and easy to find.
Define what counts as a meaningful decision (pricing change, roadmap shift, hire, process change).
Use a fixed template: Decision, Why, Owner, Next step, Date.
Set a 24-hour rule. If it is not written down by tomorrow, it is not real.
Assign one owner per decision. Shared ownership often means no ownership.
Link decisions to evidence when you have it (customer notes, metrics, support themes).
Review the last two weeks of decisions every Friday in 15 minutes.
Protect one block of deep work weekly to turn calls and meetings into documentation.
Add a simple weekly scoreboard for one or two key outcomes you care about (activation, retention, or a clear first win).
When conflict shows up, do not add more meetings first. Update the decision entry with missing context and a next step.
Jonathan invites readers to adopt one step today, preferably starting with the decision log template, and track it for 30 days. John's recommendation is to keep the bar low and the practice consistent: one page, one rule, one month, then review what changed.
About Jonathan Haber
Jonathan Haber is a technology entrepreneur and business strategist based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. John is the founder and CEO of Haber Strategies Inc. and has held roles in customer success, product operations, product enablement, and startup leadership, including co-founding LatticeDesk.
Media Contact
Jonathan Haber
info@jonathanhabermontreal.com
https://www.jonathanhabermontreal.com/
SOURCE: Jonathan Haber Montreal
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