Does Your Organization Suffer from Paralysis by Analysis? Explore the Unintended Consequences of Indecision, 2040’s Ideas and Innovations Newsletter, Issue 87
Issue 87, December 22, 2022
Should I stay or should I go? Should we pivot or stay the course? Are my next-gens going to quietly quit? How are we going to make more money in such a disruptive economy? Is everyone going to agree with me? Am I going to be held accountable? Do I even need to be accountable? And why is everything so damned hard all the time?
If you are a leader, champion of change or initiator of new ideas and solutions, we feel your frustration. On the other hand, if you intentionally create paralysis by analysis resulting from your own conscious or unconscious motivations and fears, you should be ashamed as your actions have far greater consequences than you realize.
Shifts in Time
In a cultural moment that worships data, celebrates analytics, and is led by the search-driven notion that the more you know the more you know (and you’ll be criticized if you don’t), we can easily become victims of overload paralysis.
Psychologist Barry Schwartz called it the paradox of choice. We believe it is much more than that. We have found that personal and professional defaults and biases deeply influence the strategies and tactics we present to others. Also, if we aren’t comfortable, we may defer to those around us to over-analyze a decision, project or solution. Or we may not be in agreement with the group. Or we feel it is going to take more energy and effort than we want to expend. Even worse, we may want to exercise our personal power and compete in gamesmanship just to see who wins.
Getting stuck in indecision can be distilled down to a simple thought: not using common sense. Whatever you call it, see, or describe it, the condition can cripple an individual and a leadership team and hold back an organization from innovating and growing, not to mention functioning in a healthy way.
Analysis Paralysis
We’ve all heard about analysis paralysis. Technically it’s the inability to make a decision based on overthinking a problem. As a result, no solution or forward action is decided on in a natural time frame (Wiki), if at all.
How many times have you or your team been excited about the next new shiny idea without completing the current shiny idea? Chasing the deal is fun; it keeps us entertained and offers the rush of exploring something new without consequences. The reality that comes from eventually having to execute on a decision is less exciting.
Always deferring to the new is another form of paralysis in moving forward.
It’s easy to lose your sense of direction or your North Star if there is too much chatter, static, surface noise, and energy directed to the idea of things rather than the reality of getting them done. And here’s the catch. Becoming mired in overthinking and overanalyzing creates anxiety, and anxiety contributes to poor decision-making and even more paralysis. It’s a double-edged sword.
And there’s another wrinkle. Traditional approaches to problem-solving are often based on “personal reflection.” How often do we encounter a leader who thinks he or she knows all the answers? Understands the problem better than anyone else? And therefore, upon self-reflection determines the way forward, even if it is faulty. That’s the power of ego, suffering from the I-am-the-smartest-person-in-the-room-syndrome, conscious and unconscious bias and basically … insecurity. A command-and-control mentality is often a shield for being afraid of being challenged.
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