Advice
Stop Sitting on the Fence: The Real Reason You Can't Make Decisions (And How to Fix It)
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Right, let's cut through the nonsense. If you're reading this, you're probably stuck in analysis paralysis again. You know the feeling - staring at your laptop screen for three hours deciding whether to take that Brisbane position or stay put in Melbourne. Or maybe it's simpler than that: standing in Woolies for twenty minutes trying to choose between the generic pasta sauce and the fancy one that costs $2 more.
Been there. Done that. Got the bloody t-shirt.
After 18 years running teams across Adelaide, Perth, and Sydney, I've seen more good people torpedo their careers with indecisiveness than I care to count. And here's the unpopular truth: most advice about decision-making is complete rubbish.
The Problem Isn't What You Think
Everyone bangs on about "gathering more information" or "weighing pros and cons." That's exactly backwards. The average person today has access to 74 times more information than someone in 1960, yet we're somehow MORE indecisive. That's not coincidence.
The real problem? You've been taught that making the "perfect" decision is possible. It's not.
I learned this the hard way in 2019 when I spent four months deliberating over whether to expand our consultancy into the Gold Coast. Four months! Meanwhile, a competitor swooped in and locked up three major clients I'd been courting. The "perfect" decision would have been to move six months earlier when I first had the idea.
Why Your Brain Keeps You Stuck
Here's what nobody tells you about decision-making: your brain is designed to keep you safe, not successful. Every time you face a choice, your prehistoric brain screams "DANGER!" and floods you with worst-case scenarios. It's the same system that kept your ancestors alive when tigers were a real threat, but it's absolutely useless for modern business decisions.
The indecisive mind loves stress reduction techniques, but what you really need is stress tolerance. Big difference.
Research from Melbourne University (well, it was actually from some US university, but close enough) shows that people who make decisions quickly and adjust course as needed achieve 67% better outcomes than those who deliberate extensively. The key isn't making perfect decisions - it's making good-enough decisions fast and then adapting.
The Three-Minute Rule That Changed Everything
This might sound too simple, but it works: give yourself exactly three minutes to make any non-critical decision. Set a timer. I'm serious.
Critical decisions (affecting health, safety, or more than 20% of your annual income) get longer, obviously. But choosing between two equally good job candidates? Three minutes. Deciding which software package to buy? Three minutes. Whether to attend that networking event in Darwin? Definitely three minutes.
The magic happens in minute two. That's when your gut instinct kicks in after your logical brain has done its initial scan. Most people ignore this and keep overthinking until they've talked themselves out of their best option.
The "Good Enough" Revolution
This goes against everything we're taught, but embracing "good enough" decisions is liberating. I used to agonise over every hire, every vendor choice, every strategic direction. Then I started asking one question: "Will this decision matter in five years?"
Spoiler alert: most won't.
That project management software you've been researching for weeks? Pick one and move on. If it doesn't work perfectly, you'll switch later. The cost of switching is almost always less than the cost of delayed implementation.
Netflix figured this out years ago. They don't spend months testing every show concept - they greenlight quickly, measure results, and cancel what doesn't work. Compare that to traditional TV networks that spent decades deliberating over pilots and still produced mostly garbage.
Pattern Recognition Beats Analysis
After two decades in business, I've noticed something interesting: the best decision-makers rarely use formal analysis frameworks. They rely on pattern recognition.
When you see enough situations that look similar, your brain develops shortcuts. That's why experienced managers can walk into a office and immediately sense team dysfunction, while fresh graduates with MBAs need surveys and assessments to reach the same conclusion.
The shortcut to building this skill? Start making more decisions, not better ones. Each choice builds your internal database of "what works" and "what doesn't."
The Accountability Hack
Here's something that works better than any decision-making framework: tell someone else what you're going to decide and when. Public commitment creates artificial urgency.
I use this with my team constantly. "Sarah, I'm deciding on the Perth venue by Thursday morning, and I'll email you the choice." Works every time because nobody wants to look indecisive in front of colleagues.
Stop Optimising for Perfection
The biggest lie we tell ourselves is that more analysis leads to better outcomes. It doesn't. Past a certain point, additional research just feeds analysis paralysis.
I see this constantly with emotional intelligence training decisions. Managers will research providers for months, comparing credentials and methodologies, when any decent program would improve their team's performance. The best training is the one that happens this quarter, not the perfect one that happens never.
The 40-70 rule works well here: make decisions when you have between 40-70% of the information you think you need. Less than 40% is reckless; more than 70% is procrastination disguised as diligence.
Think about it: even with 90% certainty, you're still gambling. So why not gamble faster?
What Actually Matters
Decision speed compounds. Make faster decisions, and you get more opportunities to course-correct. More course corrections mean better final outcomes, even if individual decisions are suboptimal.
The people who succeed aren't the ones who make perfect choices - they're the ones who make decent choices quickly and adapt ruthlessly when reality doesn't match expectations.
Stop trying to predict the future. You can't. Focus on building the skills to respond quickly when the future inevitably surprises you.
Start tomorrow. Pick three decisions you've been avoiding and make them before lunch. Set the timer, trust your gut, and move forward.
The fence is uncomfortable for a reason.
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