Snap decisions get a bad rap.
If your grandmother was anything like mine, you got the “Now, don’t rush into things” speech at least once a day. Sit down, slow down, calm down – don’t rush into things. Don’t make snap decisions.
This advice is usually given out with the best of intentions. We’re told that slow, methodical, and . When you’re a scientist trying to prove a theory, this is absolutely the case. When you’re a human trying to navigate the world, “Don’t rush into things” is quite possibly the worst advice you’ll ever be given.
Why?
Because nothing in life has any business being perfect.
There’s a woo-woo phrase that goes something like this:
There are no perfect circles in nature.
When was the last time anything in your life was perfectly clean or had perfectly smooth edges? We’re human. We’re messy. Our emotions and actions and lives are messy and don’t follow any sort of straight path.
By their very nature, snap decisions are rough as well. But people who are waiting for perfection in this world are going to find the world passing them by.
Because you will never have enough information.
There is always more to learn. There is always more information to gather. There is always more market research to do. There are always more edits you can make. Always stuff to add or subtract.
Analysis paralysis is a lonely place. Analysis paralysis is an inconvenient excuse for getting nothing done.
It’s not safe to not decide.
How many other things are held in abeyance while you try to decide which way to go? How many people and things are waiting on you? How many things will go to hell if you don’t decide – because you didn’t decide?
Sure, if you delay a decision you often won’t have to make it – because more decisive people or even random chance will decide for you. But why let other people or outside circumstances rule your life in that way?
The non-decision default feels safe, but it’s not. It’s inherently dangerous, and takes you out of the driver’s seat. It’s a sovereignty killer.
Taking a decision doesn’t mean you’re stuck with that decision forever.
This, I think, is why people are so scared to decide. They catastrophize the consequences of choosing incorrectly – projecting far into the future and imagining huge, bad, scary consequences – and paralyze themselves. If they decide one way, bad things 1 and 2 may come to pass. If the other way, bad things 3 and 4 loom.
What if it didn’t have to be that way?
For example…
What fools would ship a newly-designed smartphone – one they hoped would storm the market and make them a hell of a lot of money – without the ability to copy and paste?
Apple Computer.
The first generation iPhone didn’t have something as basic as the ability to copy and paste – a feature that all of the competing phones featured. At Apple, though, that design feature didn’t make the cut in the first round. Rather than delaying the phone’s launch in order to change the software, Apple shipped the iPhone sans copy and paste. Scary!
Millions of people still bought it. And those millions (and millions more) came back to buy the 2G and the 3G and the 3GS – each model a little bit better and more feature-rich than its predecessor.
Apple could have delivered a more complete – and arguably better – product if it had waited. If it had taken steps to mitigate every risk and introduce every feature before anything ever hit the market. But it didn’t. And last quarter it made $1.67 billion.
Decide, then iterate.
In the software industry, there’s a concept called “minimum viable product” – or MVP. An MVP is the smallest component of a software package that actually works.
A lot of small software companies get started by launching with an MVP, and then adding new features on one by one as their user base and/or revenue stream grows.
When launching an MVP, a lot of features get thrown out the window on the first go-round. The MVP is never perfect. It invariably has some bugs in it and some kinks to be worked out. But that’s ok – because it’s meant to be that way. It’s meant to be a work in progress – something to be revisited and changed and added to.
You can do this in your business.
Say you decide to start a new business. Which one? You have 50 ideas and no way to choose between them. Rather than going the Buridan’s Ass route of perpetual non-decision, why not just… start one? Start one of your businesses with a minimum viable product. An hour of coaching, say, or a DIY kit, or an e-book.
Do you still love this idea after 6 months? Great! You’re already in business. Iterate. Expand your product line.
Hate the idea after 6 months? Great! You’ve checked one idea of your list and (hopefully) made a little money at it. Start up your next business with an MVP.
You can do this in your life.
Say you’re looking for an apartment. You’ve seen 5 that you like. Each one has similar amenities, is a similar distance from work, and is in a similarly safe neighborhood. So how do you decide? Just… decide! Each place is about equal, and you’ve got to start from somewhere.
Write each apartment address down on a slip of paper. Put it in a hat. If you’re happy with the choice you pull out of the hat, sign the lease on that one. If you’re not, then you didn’t want that apartment anyway. The worst-case scenario is that you’ll be stuck in that apartment for the length of the lease.
It’s ok to decide.
The moral of the story? It’s ok to decide. It’s ok to have an opinion. It’s ok to not have all your bases covered. Having to reverse a decision or iterate to make things better is not a failure or a failing on your part. It’s what smart, responsible people do.
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Great analogy about the smartphone. Who am I to not make mistakes? Life rewards action not perfection, and like you said nothing is perfect. Great tips for getting un-stuck.