“Death by Indecision” may sound dramatic, but if you take time to think about it, we are all just a bunch of human beings, who spend their entire lives making a lot of decisions every day, and then we die. There you have it.
In all seriousness, if you’re not able to quickly, or decisively make decisions—even bad decisions (more on why this can be a good thing later)—you’re going to face challenges navigating the workplace. In the fast-paced, ever-changing world of asset management, indecision can be crippling to your engagements, business, and overall career. That’s right, you can say goodbye to the c-suite if you're constantly falling into the “Death by Indecision” trap.
Let’s start with a basic quiz to determine if you are a decision maker or are you a stuck subordinate:
Where do you want to go out to dinner tonight? You only have the next three seconds to think about this question...
If you haven’t yet chosen a restaurant or dinner destination (decision) or decided you don’t want to go out to dinner at all (decision), then you are a stuck subordinate.
If you’re thinking you were going to be agreeable and say “anywhere is fine,” or “I didn’t have enough time,” you should recognize that these are not decisions—these are indecisions with qualifying statements attached to them. These types of neutral statements have not contributed to the outcome and you’ve become a passenger along for the ride to this evening’s dinner destination. It may be the best meal of your life or worst meal of your life, but a stuck subordinate can’t take any credit for either of the outcomes.
The simple dinner decision can be applied to your next project. Do you want to be an active participant and share in the triumphs and defeats, or be a bystander forced to deal with the consequences of others’ decision making? Take note all managers out there—this is especially meaningful for leaders in times of crisis. As a leader, you want to make informed decisions, while still being agile, and adaptable in executing and delivering the day-to-day as well as strategic decisions. A successful leader is required and must be able to make snap decisions, and should do so by surrounding him or herself with a team of equally informed and effective decision makers.
Back to bad decisions. Why are bad decisions better than no decision at all? Intuitively, we all like to avoid bad decisions that may come with bad consequences. Fear of bad decisions can easily lead to the indecision trap when, in reality, bad decisions are just another learning lesson. Projects have been delayed and derailed by too much hemming and hawing. Here’s your opportunity to figure out where processes, people, or yourself are failing and take corrective measures. Bad decisions can be catalysts for change once you move past fear.
If you’re already an expert decision maker, then well done and rock on. If not, it’s not too late to take another look at your approach and remind yourself not to fall victim to your own analysis paralysis. Now go ahead and remind me: where do you want to go out to dinner tonight?
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