Decision aging
How long open decisions have been waiting unresolved.
Formula
Open decision age
current date - raised date for each open decision; report median, p90, and over-SLA count
Unit
days
Direction
Lower is better
Cadence
Weekly for active portfolios.
Worked Example
Portfolio review of unresolved decisions.
Open decisions
34
Median age
18 days
Older than 30 days
9
Calculation
Count decisions where age > 30 days
Result
9 aged decisions
Interpretation
Unresolved choices are accumulating into decision debt.
Recommended action
Escalate aged decisions to named owners with closure dates.
Why it matters
This metric helps leaders see whether the decisions layer is healthy enough to support execution and AI readiness.
What it reveals
Where unresolved choices are accumulating into decision debt.
Manual assessment method
Review open decisions and calculate age from creation or escalation date against the expected decision cadence.
Lapemo calculation path
Supported by open decision statuses and timestamps for proposed or in-review decisions.
Interpretation Bands
Healthy
Low and declining
Gaps are being removed on cadence.
Watch
Flat
The operating model is not improving.
Risk
Rising
Debt is accumulating faster than teams are resolving it.
Critical
Concentrated in critical work
Escalate for owner action.
Required inputs
- Open decision list
- Raised date
- Expected cadence
- Decision owner
Data sources
- Decision log
- Escalation register
- Governance workflow
Common pitfalls
- Only reporting average age
- Not separating blocked decisions from neglected decisions
Recommended actions
- Publish aged decision list
- Assign closure owner
- Remove stale decisions
Measure Before You Scale
Measure the operating model before AI amplifies it.
Use the Metrics Library to understand what to diagnose, what to monitor, and where Lapemo can turn framework metrics into operating intelligence.