When is a decision not a decision?

Brian, is my favourite graphic designer, he is very creative. But ask him to make a decision it is a very different matter.

I suspect he’s afraid that he might make a bad decision and let me down.

So to ease his pain and to encourage him to make decisions, I have told him that a bad decision is better than no decision! Because if you make a bad one you soon find out it was a bad decision, whilst no decision can delay action indefinitely.

When I think about it I actually know a lot of people that don’t like to make decisions.

Probably because they're not confident enough. They fear responsibility or the prospect of some form of reprisal; and even some believe that decision making is actually more about consultation and peer decision making.

Some people are actually incapable of making decisions.

Probably, because they can predict every potential pitfall or eventuality. They wait to receive even more information, progress reports or mistakenly believe that the timing isn’t quite right.

Surely a ‘best guest decision’ is better than no decision.

In my world, I hear a lot of my clients say ” sounds really good, we really ought to get you involved”. But I also hear them say” I need to talk to colleagues” or “the time isn’t quite right” etc.

What they really mean is NO, or my boss wouldn’t support me on this or I don’t want the responsibility for it if it fails to deliver the required results.

I think we would all prefer a decision i.e. an honest Yes or No rather than I will think about it. No decision or I will think about it is the worst of all answers or positions to be in.

So as Nike says “Just do it”.