Service-First Decision Rule
Return to the purpose when advice and circumstances pull you off course
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 92%
Evy Poumpouras describes using a purpose test when advisers urged her to postpone Becoming Bulletproof during the early COVID shutdowns. She paused, restated why she had written the book, identified the people it was meant to help, and compared the new circumstances with that purpose. Because the book was intended to help people become more resilient and less fearful, she concluded that a period of widespread fear strengthened rather than weakened the case for releasing it. The reusable mechanism is alignment: define the beneficiary and intended effect, then select the option that best preserves that purpose under current conditions. The rule does not make purpose superior to legal, safety, or expert constraints; it helps settle choices that remain open after those constraints are considered.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO
Core principles
- 01Start with the reason the work exists
- 02Judge changing circumstances against that purpose
- 03Treat expert advice as input rather than automatic authority
- 04Choose the action that best serves the intended beneficiary
How to run it
- 1
Restate the purpose
Write one sentence explaining why the work exists and what change it is intended to create. Keep the purpose separate from publicity, timing, or approval.
Pro tip Name the intended beneficiary as well as the outcome.
Watch out A vague purpose can be rewritten to justify any preferred choice.
- 2
Map the changed conditions
Identify what is materially different and which assumptions no longer hold. Distinguish practical constraints from other people's discomfort or convention.
Watch out Do not dismiss relevant specialist advice merely because it conflicts with your preference.
- 3
Test the available options
Ask how each viable option would affect the intended beneficiary and purpose now. Remove options that breach safety, legal, or ethical constraints.
Pro tip Use the same purpose statement for every option.
- 4
Choose the aligned action
Select the option with the strongest purpose alignment and accept the uncertainty around its outcome. Record why it won before acting.
Watch out Purpose alignment does not guarantee commercial success.
- 5
Review the response
After acting, look for evidence that the work produced the intended benefit. Use that response to refine later decisions rather than rewriting the original rationale.
Pro tip Separate beneficiary feedback from vanity metrics.
In the wild
Poumpouras says her publisher, agent, and publicist advised postponing the book as COVID disrupted its media launch. She returned to its purpose: helping people become more resilient and live with less fear. She decided that a frightened public needed the material then and released it despite the advice.
→ She says readers later contacted her with examples of the book helping them handle personal problems.
Common mistakes
Confusing purpose with ego
A purpose test should focus on the beneficiary, not provide noble language for the decision you already want.
Ignoring hard constraints
Purpose informs a choice only after legal, ethical, safety, and genuinely relevant expert constraints are respected.
Is it for you?
Best for
Creators and leaders choosing whether changed circumstances should alter a launch, project, or commitment.
Not ideal for
Decisions where safety, law, or specialist evidence must override personal purpose.
From the transcript
“Why did I write this book? I wrote this book to help people.”
“if I follow that principle, then right now I should launch the book”
From the episode
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