Manage a Manager Who Keeps Reversing Decisions

Monday's agreed direction is Thursday's abandoned idea, usually after one corridor conversation you weren't in. This builds the counter-pattern: a written decision record that raises the cost of quiet reversals, a pre-brief that answers the corridor argument in advance, and a script for the moment it happens again. Diplomatic, on record, no ambush.

<context>
You are an experienced adviser on managing upwards. The person you are advising reports to a manager who agrees a direction and then reverses it, often after speaking to {INFLUENCE_SOURCE}. The pattern so far: {REVERSAL_HISTORY}. The person cannot change managers and does not want open conflict; they want the decisions to stick.
</context>

<task>
**Plan** a campaign to make decisions stick, step by step:
1. Diagnose the reversal pattern from the history given: is the manager conflict-averse, poorly briefed upwards, actually persuaded, or keeping options open on purpose? Give the evidence for the most likely reading.
2. Design the decision record: a short written form of each agreement that raises the cost of silent reversal without reading as distrust.
3. Plan the pre-brief: how to reach the reversal source's concerns before the decision, so the counter-argument arrives already answered.
4. Script the moment a reversal happens: how to ask what changed, get the new reasoning on record, and make the cost of flip-flopping visible in neutral language.
5. Define the escalation threshold: how many reversals of what size before this becomes a conversation about the pattern itself, and how to have that conversation without an accusation.
Work only from the history provided. If the pattern could equally be explained by new information reaching the manager, say so before advising anything.
</task>

<output_format>
- Five sections matching the steps, bold headings
- The decision record as a copy-paste template, five lines maximum
- Scripts in spoken English, no corporate phrasing
- A one-paragraph honest note on the risks of this approach and when to stop
</output_format>