Linda was recently reading an article in The New York Times Magazine by Jami Attenberg (February 4, 2018) about healthcare decisions. In it, Attenberg said something that seemed powerfully true not only for our healthcare decisions but for all our decisions!
This is what she said:
“. . .[every time I needed to make a decision] I hesitated,
and a handful of hesitations that take only a second added up to
years of failing to make a decision.”
This struck us as one of the more powerful summaries of what happens to people over and over (and over) again as they face decisions that they find difficult or frightening.
In moments of hesitation the decision is delayed, and because the fear doesn’t go away the decision is delayed again the moment the issue comes up.
We’ve seen that these moments add up to:
- staying entrenched in an out-of-date strategy
- keeping a team member who cannot do their job
- staying in a loveless marriage
- holding onto to an investment that no longer creates success
- staying in a job that no longer sparks your passion
No one would argue that making decisions is critical to a “business well-led” and a “life well-lived,” but few of us have had any training about making decisions, particularly when those decisions are tough, scary, or where you have too little information.
Spend some time this week thinking about whether you’ve failed to make any decisions because you’ve been hesitating for far too long out of fear of the unknown. Then join us next week when we’ll provide some insights about how to make decisions – even when you’re unsure!