Nine Decision-Making Pitfalls – And How to Avoid Them

1. Analysis Paralysis. The cure: The 70% solution (stolen from the Marine Corps). If you have 70% of the information, have done 70% of the analysis and feel 70% confident, then move.
2. Sunk-Cost Syndrome. The cure: Burn the boat. Seymour Cray built two things: sailboats and supercomputers. Obsolescence is a given. To drive the point home to himself, each spring he’d build a sailboat – and every fall he’d burn it. Lesson: It’s always painful to destroy something we’ve built, but sometimes it has to be done.
3. Yes-Man Echoes. The cure: Voice questions, not opinions. If you’re a higher up seeking advice, start out with a question, not an opinion.
4. Anxiety Overload. The cure: Look at the clock. Find what calms you. Low levels of anxiety are productive, high levels of anxiety are counter-productive.
5. Warring Camps. The cure: Let the battle rage. Political infighting can be destructive, but battles over substance, managed well, can be constructive.
6. A Wily Adversary. The cure: Clone your opponent. Assign a person or a group to think like your competitor. “Imitation can be a high form of heroism,” it says.
7. To Be Or Not To Be? The cure: Go with the omen. Yes, a prophetic sign, a gut instinct, the little voice in your head. Go with it.
8. Inexperience. The cure: Educate your instincts. Blind instinct can not be trusted – but it can be educated. Think flight simulators and physician residencies.
9. Self-interested Thinking. The cure: What would Sara Lee do? Companies are like people – they want to live long and prosper. Since companies can’t speak or decide for themselves, people do.

Via: The Big Picture

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