Is indecision killing your execution?
In my last post, I brought up the idea that strategic execution is essentially a decision-making science. This week, I want to go down the rabbit hole a bit more.
And talk about the exact opposite of good decision-making: indecision.
Why isn’t bad decision-making the opposite of good decision-making? Let me (very briefly) offer three reasons.
Which leads me back to this particular diatribe.
When we are wracked with indecision, the root cause issue is more about fear than skill. We are trying to avoid failure/rejection/risk instead of getting the strategy executed.
I am a self-professed Type A personality. Correction - recovering Type A personality. I can make decisions on a dime. I can pick the restaurant/pick Option B/pick the root cause issue with relative comfort. And if I’m wrong, I am confident that I can figure out what to do to get things back on track.
Until I become afraid.
Usually, it’s the fear of failure that gets me in these moments, but the fear of rejection can be equally paralyzing.
I allow my fear of making the wrong decision hijack my overall decision-making capacity.
I freeze.
I procrastinate.
I research. And research. And research.
And justify my lack of decision-making the entire way.
Why the personal transparency?
I am seeing entire organizations becoming paralyzed with indecision. They won’t decide to prioritize. They won’t decide to re-allocate resources. They won’t decide to get help.
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It’s as if the entire organization is stuck in a collective inhale, holding everything in and waiting for permission to exhale - then do something.
Frankly, it’s getting to the point where indecision is affecting everything. From budget assignment to vendor spend to even determining next steps.
In other words, as my colleague Steve Thompson says, “The decisions that your people are making reveal your real strategy.” I would also include the decisions that people are NOT making.
If you are seeing the same thing(s) that I am, we do have a path forward.
First, make sure the indecision is not caused by a leadership gap (especially if YOU’RE the leader). While there are many solutions here, the first two suggestions I offer are relatively simple - and worthy of their own separate diatribes.
Leadership is about serving, yeah? So seek for ways to serve by injecting clarity and empowerment whenever possible so that indecision is getting the treatment that it deserves.
Second, make sure the indecision is not caused by an over-emphasis on the three most common hijackers of our effectiveness: success, significance, and control. As I have repeatedly said in my blog , they do not provide the power and fuel that we often think they do. Instead, invest in these three convictions in yourself and in your team.
These convictions become the foundation for a mindset that we must all have. This mindset provides the true power and fuel we need as leaders, and the power and fuel that our people need to be the best versions of themselves. When this mindset is in place, I have seen indecision shrink to the point of virtual non-existence. And only reappear when confidence, acceptance, and trust are assaulted.
Mirror moment: How is indecision affecting you and your team? And what can you do about it?
I mua. Onward and upward.
(And a special nod to Angela Hughes for sparking this thought stream with her comment on my last LinkedIn article. Thank you!)
(Originally posted Dec. 9, 2022, on my personal blog. See my bio for the link.)
Thanks for sharing this article, Janet Gerhard!
Thank you for sharing this article, Gina!
Thank you for sharing, JD Stewart!