Writing this newsletter this week has been difficult. As I struggled to find topics to write, I turned more than once to my Evernote archives. I have plenty of ideas from which to choose, yet I keep scrolling. It’s a drawback of my top strength: input.
I’m great at collecting information I may find a use for later. But it can also lead to “analysis paralysis.” More input or more opinions - either can bog down your decision making.
A good way to be unsure about something is to ask for one more opinion. More opinions often lead to indecision, not clarity. If necessary, ask for a few, add your own, make a call, and move on. Nearly all decisions are temporary, but stalling is permanent time lost.
— Jason Fried (@jasonfried) January 22, 2020
Making decisions is hard and kicking the problem down the road seems like a more comfortable choice. That’s especially true when it feels like you’ll probably make the wrong choice. Merely waiting for more information feels like it should resolve the discomfort, but it adds to the context you’re considering. In business, it leads to more meetings.
Andy Budd calls this problem-solution inflation. Instead of solving a small problem, you’re trying to solve a larger problem that’s harder. At some point, it’s seemingly impossible, and you’ll give up altogether.
It becomes a classic case of problem-solution inflation. Every time you try to solve the problem, you go up a context and the problem becomes harder, till you eventually stop trying to solve it because it.
— Andy Budd (@andybudd) May 14, 2020
So how can you make better and faster decisions? Harvard Business Review has a suggested 7-step checklist for better business decision making. In summary:
- Write down five business goals impacted by the decision.
- Write down four alternatives
- Write down any information you’re missing
- Write down what the impacts are – good or bad
- Involve a team of two, but no more than 6 to decide
- Write down the decision and why
- Schedule a follow up to review the decision
Astute readers may have noticed more than one of these steps are part of Architectural Decision Records I’ve written about previously.
Remember what Jason Fried said, nearly all decisions are temporary. Most are reversible. Make the call.