“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” Albus Dumbledore – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Decision making used to be so simple: You’d take out a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle, write “Pros” on one side of the line and “Cons” on the other, and after a bit of research, if the Pros list was longer than the Cons, that is the path you took. Now this process gets bottlenecked during the research phase and the result is Analysis Paralysis (AP).
What is AP? Basically it’s overthinking. It happens:
- When you are afraid of making a bad decision
- Because you are seeking the perfect solution to a problem
- When you spend too much time researching your choice
- Or all of the above. Consequently, you end up not making a decision at all.
What causes AP? Mostly, it’s a fear of being wrong.
- As Albus mentioned above, your life is a series of choices and if you’re afraid of making a bad one, you can get bogged down pondering how the decision you’re trying to make reflects who you are as a person (your ethics, values, and motives), how it impacts other people, and fear of not making the perfect choice. BTW, it’s an illusion that the perfect choice is out there just waiting for you to discover it.
- Information overload. Sometimes, Google is not your friend. There is so much information out there, it changes so often, and it comes at you so fast, that you can spend weeks just gathering it.
- Overcomplicating the decision. For example: Deciding whether or not to accept a job offer in a city 320 miles away is complicated. Deciding where to eat lunch is not.
- Distractions. If officemates interrupt, the phone rings, and email notifications disrupt your focus, you can’t give the problem adequate attention.
How can you overcome AP?
- Seek advice. Is there someone you trust who makes wise choices? Has she made a similar choice in the past? Ask her what she did. Ask the people this decision would effect what they think. This shows you are open to diverse thoughts and allows you to see the problem from another perspective. It could also alleviate your fear of being wrong.
- Set a time limit for research. Resist the temptation to dive so deep that you can’t swim back up to the surface. When you have enough information to move forward with a decision, make it. Remind yourself you have resources you can consult if it becomes necessary to pivot.
- Filter your decision with the desired end result in mind. What goal are you trying to accomplish? How big is the decision? Is it worth your T.E.A.M.? Will the choice you make now still effect you a year from now? What is the worst that could happen? What ROI can you expect? Does this choice make sense?
- Adopt the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Sister) and don’t unnecessarily complicate your issue. If it’s a big decision, break it down into a series of little decisions, and just take the next step. Then evaluate your results, check your notes, and take another step based on your new data.
- Think about the decision when you have the most mental energy and where you have the fewest distractions. If your mind is clearest in the morning, don’t wait until evening to make a difficult decision when you are worn out. If the office is too chaotic, go to a library.
After you make the decision you will inevitably second guess yourself. When that happens, be confident that you made the best decision you could with the information and time you had. An adequate decision is actually, okay. It’s better to decide than to suffer from analysis paralysis.
Do you battle AP? Tell me about it here: