The Tidal Decision-Making Technique

by Dwayne Phillips

Sometimes decisions just sort of drift in and out with the tides.

The tide comes in; the tide goes out. Sometimes we find something that drifted in with the tide and remains on the beach. The next day, the next cycle or two of tides, and that something is gone. It was carried back out by the tide.

I have seen managers decide important questions like this. One day, they wake and, well, there you have it. Decided. A few days or weeks later and it is gone. Decided.

Nothing of consequence happened before each decision. The decisions just sort of happened. Just like the tides.

We often do just fine by considering the beach and what has come in or out with the tides. There is enough momentum and expertise in all the folks surrounding us that our decisions neither help nor hurt that much.

Sometimes are decisions shouldn’t be left up to what the tide brings or takes. And we shouldn’t let the tide decide if we are deciding by the tide.