Decisions Decisions

I think the internet is driving me mad. Or I’ve got OCD. Or something. Tonight I’ve spent about 2 hours choosing a new tap for the kitchen sink. In fairness, that’s significantly less than the hundreds of hours I spent researching saddles before buying one of those. And as for the holiday, I think I spent more time researching and choosing that than I’m actually going to spend on the holiday!

If I added up the hours and hours and hours I spend researching on the internet and worked it out as a percentage of my waking life, (and especially my ‘leisure time’) I know it would confirm the worst – that I’m a serial procrastinator.

The sheer volume – the absolute plethora of information available to me is actually grinding

the decision making process to a standstill.

Of course, the trouble with the internet is that for every published opinion there is an equally credible one somewhere else that states the complete opposite.

The same can be true when faced with problems at work. What’s more, the dangers are the same and the results can be equally crippling to us as individuals and the organisations we work for.

We can spend so long investigating a problem, trying to make sure we have every piece of available information before we make a decision that we never make any decisions at all.

Sadly, making no decision is often worse than making an imperfect decision. After all,
a lack of decisions can mean that new products and services are never developed or are developed too late, problems remain unresolved and organisations simply suffocate in a murky pond of inactivity (I’m quite pleased with that metaphor. J)

So here’s a thought. What about if the first decision we made was always about how much time we were going to allow ourselves to investigate the problem and develop some options? And the second was to make a decision at the end of that period?

I’ll let you know how it goes, just as soon as I’ve decided on a finish for this tap.

Rod Webb
www.glasstap.com