One of the most common mistakes that people in decision-making positions make is waiting too long to move forward. They spend hours going over all the possible options, weighing pros and cons, and trying to come up with a perfect solution. In many cases this type of perfectionism can be paralyzing as it prevents any kind of action from taking place at all. The problem with this approach is that perfection takes precedent over relevance – something which can’t be compensated for at some point in time later on.
Let’s face it. No decision is also a decision, but not in your hands.
Decisions may seem to slow us down, but they can also keep things moving. In many cases the decision that needs to be made is not a matter of choice at all – it’s just something we need to do in order for life and work to continue smoothly.
The most vivid example of this are those who make no decision by weighing too many factors and focusing on perfectionism instead relevance. They spend hours going over pros and cons which prevents any kind of action from taking place at all, when what they really needed was momentum.
How to make decisions more quickly and easily.
The secret is to prioritize those decisions that advance you closer to your goal, and diminish those that don’t. This is a key point because it’s easy to get caught up in the minor details of every decision. It seems like this will help you, but really – as fast decisions are necessary for building momentum and getting things done, all that time can be simply wasted.
A quick decision not only builds momentum but also prevents from wasting energy on dead-end tasks and distractions. As much as we’d love to know everything there is about a given task before beginning work, sometimes we have no choice but to take action without understanding how it’ll play out down the road (which initially may seem scary, for some).
Why it’s important to focus on relevance rather than perfection when making decisions.
Perfection can be gained over time. Time relevance can’t. So how can we leverage this?
Recognize that decisions are iterative – they don’t need to be perfect, but can still lead you in a good direction. Use them as micro-experiments that steer you towards your milestone, one step at a time. This also allows us to avoid analysis paralysis which may cause us to wait too long for the perfect moment.
In business environments where it’s necessary to move fast and make quick moves this is especially important – there isn’t enough time or resources to waste due to indecision or overanalysis.
Ways to avoid the “paralysis by analysis” effect
- Speed up decision making by weighing less factors; remove all small decisions that occupy your list without making any significant impact
- pay attention to your daily micro-decisions that pass unnoticed; These simple choices use up your precious mental capacity that could be used for value-adding decisions
- Focus on relevance instead of perfection by understanding the scarcity principle and focusing on execution; Hint: what you can do here & now with what you have available, nothing more
Okay but what if you’ve already gotten into the loop of indecisiveness? Try the following tips for overcoming indecision and getting back into action:
- Understand the correlation between waiting to make a decision and taking your time. The latter is about getting all the information you need, while the former is about making something happen NOW; do not wait for perfection
- When in doubt, act now! You’ve been thinking about it long enough.