Business Decisions

Just Decide

One of the most crippling diseases that can creep into an organization or someone's personal life and affect productivity, enthusiasm and accomplishment is the mind-boggling condition of indecision. As we avoid, procrastinate and sidestep decisions that need to be made, we are not only "treading water," but slowly sinking into a sea of complacency and confusion. Individuals and organizations often find themselves in the mire of unfinished projects and unresolved issues because no one has the courage to simply make a decision.

It is easier to offer someone else a multitude of choices and allow them to take the blame if it ends up being the wrong one than to take the responsibility yourself and move forward confidently in your choice. As Earl Nightingale once said, "The minute we choose to not make a decision about something we put ourselves in the hands of circumstances, or under the control of others who will make a decision. Decide, and even if you make a wrong decision, it will usually become apparent, and you can correct it. But if you make no decision at all, you will never find out what is right or how you could have made it right."

It is so evident when I enter a company that has developed a culture where individuals can approach their daily work with confidence in making good decisions that people are thriving on the opportunity to think and act. Taking ownership for both good decisions and bad liberates individuals and allows them to grow and make better, more important decisions in the future. Children that have the opportunity to choose with the guidance of their parents and then pay the consequences of those decisions become more independent and develop a greater self-esteem than those that are told what to do and when to do it right up until the time they leave home. We learn by risking being right and we move forward by making better choices the next time around. If we limit our employees, our children or even ourselves by avoiding tough decisions, then the future is always in the hands of others and grows more uncertain and confusing than it needs to be.

- Jim Paluch

Brain-Rattling Questions

Often our indecision comes from lack of clarity or lack of information. One of the best ways to get information that will help in the decision-making process is to ask thought-provoking, emotionally jarring questions that cause us to seek out an answer and take action. Here is a list of these types of questions that will make you think and may just cause you to take action and move forward with an important decision:

• Right now there may be somebody in your company or in your life that should not be there...Who is it and why are they still around?
• At this moment there is someone needing information or a response from you so they can make a decision...Who is it and what is keeping you from responding?
• There is a family issue that needs to come to closure...What is it and what is your first step to finding this closure?
• You are considering buying something or getting rid of something...What is it and how will you benefit from taking action?
• You are avoiding a health decision...What is it and how will someone in your life benefit from you taking action?

If the questions have caused you to think and motivated you to find the answers, you are on your way to doing just that. If the answers are just not there, you might consider one possible answer that could universally answer each: you're afraid of being wrong. Just go for it and know that taking action is the right decision that puts you far ahead of the disability of indecision.

Tips that Help You Decide

The way individuals make decisions varies as widely as the people making them, but a few common tips can help anyone aid the process and speed the results.

• Prioritize the decisions you need to make. Delegate and enjoy the help of your decision-making team.
• Trust your judgment in making the decision and focus on the next step. Even if the decision was wrong, move on. Make a decision, make it yours and die by it!
• Timing is a big player in the decision game. Do it when the time is right. The right decision at the wrong time is no better than the wrong decision at the right time.
• Small and consistent decision making prepares and disciplines you for the bigger ones that really matter.
• Weigh out the pros and cons of any choice by writing them down. This removes the questions and directs a clear decision.