What is kill criteria decision making?

Kill criteria decision making is a concept in personal epistemology: Define in advance what conditions would justify releasing a commitment.

Example: You accept a new role at a startup because the mission excites you, the equity offer is compelling, and the team is strong. But you have been burned before by staying too long in situations that decayed slowly. So before your first day, you write three exit criteria on a card and seal it in an envelope: (1) If the company misses payroll even once, I leave within 30 days. (2) If I no longer believe in the product's core thesis after 12 months, I start looking. (3) If my direct manager changes and the replacement does not share my values around autonomy, I give it 90 days and then reassess. Fourteen months later, the product pivots to something you find ethically questionable. You open the envelope. Criterion two is met. You do not agonize, do not rationalize, do not wait for things to get better. You start your search that week — not because the moment feels right, but because your past self already made the decision.

This concept is part of Phase 34 (Commitment Architecture) in the How to Think curriculum, which builds the epistemic infrastructure for commitment architecture.