Engineering decisions are made under uncertainty.

The goal is not to eliminate mistakes. The goal is to minimize future regret.

Correct Is Not Always Knowable

At decision time, teams rarely have complete information. They make choices with partial evidence, changing constraints, and incomplete models.

A decision can be reasonable and still produce a bad outcome.

A decision can be reckless and still get lucky.

Regret as a Decision Lens

Instead of asking whether a decision is guaranteed to be right, ask:

• If this fails, what will we wish we had known?
• If this succeeds, what future obligations are we creating?
• If assumptions change, how expensive is reversal?
• What optionality are we preserving or destroying?

Two-Way Doors

Reversible decisions reduce regret because they preserve learning.

Irreversible decisions require stronger evidence, higher confidence, and more explicit review.

The Point

Great engineering organizations do not ask only, "Was this correct?"

They ask:

> Given what we knew, would we make the same decision again?

That is a much better measure of engineering judgment.