Defeating "analysis paralysis"

[DustinH]

I don't know if this topic has been covered but I was wanting to hear thoughts on how to overcome this disease of analytical personalities. My wife and I are both in business and need some good strategies to overcome paralysis by analysis on a weekly basis.

 

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[Rawseed]

Consider:

Chapter 39 of Unscripted OR
Decisive by Heath Bros. OR
Decision Checklist by Sam Kyle

 

[DustinH]

Chapter 39 of Unscripted

I couldn't remember if there was a chapter on this subject but I'm definitely going to re-read that part. I might have to re-read it once a month or create my own mantra from it.

I have a high I personality (in the DISC assessment) and I'm a long-term visionary so the day-to-day details get lost in the shuffle with me. The wife is just conservative and always drags out decision-making. So, we both have problems taking the necessary levels of action. It's just manifested in different ways. For me it's focus. For her it's fear.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[FastNAwesome]

Here are my thoughts and experience. Not saying it's correct, but maybe it helps.

- I'd realized that after sufficient analysis is done, if you don't make a decision and act on it, it turns into a huge waste of time. So decision is necessary, even if it's to drop the thing and move to something else. The thought that you want to do <whatever> holds you back from embarking on new things, but you're also not starting that first thing, because you need to "know more" or "be more ready". So at point of sufficient knowledge, I prefer to either do it or drop it.

- I'd realized that things are not gonna go smooth anyway. The road will be bumpy, and mistakes will be made. All the analysis can hope for is to keep the risks within reason and manageable. And many things you can't include into analysis because they'll only happen after the fact. E.g.a product you ordered is not of required quality. That's why you get a sample first. Or maybe sample was fine, but actual order is not. Then you deal with that, by having some guarantees or whatever mechanisms in place. You can spend years analysing vendors and reading reviews, and still end up with a s**ty product. So after enough analysis, it's time to do or do not.
(Irony: unless analysis can predict ALL possible outcomes, it's incomplete and has an element of gamble to it. All a good analysis does is help stack odds in your favor, and still "dumb luck" may win a particular "hand" - which is any decision.)

- Being decisive or indecisive can turn into a habit. One of the things that cost me the most, in precious asset called time, is allowing myself to become timid at one point. Nothing gets done. Then, once I had enough, I started making decisions, and once I embraced the imperfection of outcomes as a given, I now much more easily make decisions. I will analyse, but at the point of sufficient knowledge, it's time to decide. And then handle any bumps in the road as they come.

- If logically something seems like the right decision, but you're still not up for it, it's good to be honest with oneself, and ask "why do I REALLY don't wanna do this? What is it that REALLY bothers me?". If it's something that doesn't align with your values, maybe it's a good decision to drop it. Or maybe it's something your really want to do, but e.g.don't have sufficient confidence, so then you address that.

- Taking off "the edge" to help move forward. I wanted to make videos, and "in theory" I was very confident about it, but always postponing it for a "perfect time". Then one day I realized - hey, it's a nice day, and I wanna film. But I'm not fit enough, don't like my accent, haven't prepared the talk, don't have a pro camera yet, and certainly wouldn't post it online for everyone to laugh at me.
But I realized if I don't start, I'll NEVER film anything. So I decided to take off "the edge". I'm not posting it online. I'm just filming for myself.
Finally I start my phone camera, and look at myself. Eew! Chubby face. It's like camera accentuates things. I'm prettier in the mirror!
So I take off that "edge" too, I'll be filming nature, and talking my talk.

And FINALLY, I start filming and talking, and it feels nice.
Except my spoken English skills are low, and I don't sound too articlate.

So finally I decide to take off that "edge" too and allow myself to make a s**ty video.

I was like "ok, at least it felt nice, so do your stupid video, in your inarticulate attempt of speaking English, just to confirm 100% that you suck at this, so you can move to the next idea".

And so I did, and what would you know...some 10 minutes into it, I relaxed, and started talking smoother, got a grasp of controlling my voice and tonality, finding nice angles for the video, and talking in a more articulate manner, like chatting with a friend, and I even lost the "uhmms.." and started sounding more professional.

 

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[ZCP]

Strategy I use: quit accepting excuses

Sounds like....... You are too comfortable. You do not want it bad enough.

Step into the deep end and make a difference in the world.

 

[WJK]

It's easier to analyze than to take action. And prolonging the analysis phase appears to have no risks or bear traps -- except the biggest hidden risk that you have identified. It's when you take no action. Inaction, therefore, has the highest price of all options. If you do nothing, you have 100% chance of failing in all of your options to act. Not deciding is letting the Universe decide for you. You are still personally responsible for the results.

There is a time to decide to take no action. If you determine that the problem is a "self-correcting" one, then do nothing. That is not paralysis by analysis. You are letting the situation work itself out. This is a conscious decision that your intervention through action will not solve the problem.

 

[AndrewNC]

I don't know if this topic has been covered but I was wanting to hear thoughts on how to overcome this disease of analytical personalities. My wife and I are both in business and need some good strategies to overcome paralysis by analysis on a weekly basis.

For what purpose does the analysis serve you? What is the positive intent behind it?

What is it protecting you from?

How, specifically is this a problem for you now?

In what specific context is it no longer serving you?

What will happen if you continue to do this?

What is a more positive alternative?

Why is this alternative a better solution?

How will you overcome the solution to this problem? (Read this carefully).

 

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[DustinH]

Strategy I use: quit accepting excuses

Sounds like....... You are too comfortable. You do not want it bad enough.

Step into the deep end and make a difference in the world.

Sometimes it is action faking and telling ourselves "no more excuses" is helpful.

Other times, the big decisions are what are keeping us from moving forward in life. They are A-B decisions. Should we do A or should we do B? For example, we needed to buy a new car. We had the money to do it, but the paralysis analysis comes in the form of which brand do we choose? Which model do we choose? Which package? Which color? And on and on...

So, trying to expedite the decision process would be helpful.

 

[eliquid]

If you are doing nothing right now, you need to be doing something.

Start with a mapped out list of outcomes for the day.

NOT TO-DO's, but outcomes.

Map it out for the day, for the whole week, 7 days ahead of time.

So Sunday night, you could have mapped out outcomes for the next 7 days.

Monday at 8am - outcome 1
Monday 10am - outtome 2
Monday 2pm - outcome 3
Monday 5pm - outcome 4
Tuesday 7am - outcome 1 ( for the day )
etc

If you can get to this point, I'll share the rest you need to know.