Analysis Paralysis

 

Michael Laffey, Life Coach, Analysis Paralysis

Somewhere recently I heard this phrase and immediately jotted it down. It’s nothing new, I know, but I’d forgotten about it and I thought it summed up a common trait when it comes to making moves in certain directions.

At decision making times we may feel we need to have thought through every option imaginable, together with every conceivable answer, before we make what we feel to be the absolutely right decision. It’s also called creating a bit of a tall order.

Would you honestly expect that of someone else? No, is the likely answer.

When making plans to change something, does everything have to be perfect on the first pass?  That would be great and it can happen.

Alternatively, is an iterative approach a plausible & workable option where moderate steps with moderate set backs or experience are incorporated along the way? Perhaps those setbacks are part of the learning experience you couldn’t foresee in your planning. Might they lead you to a better outcome?

The ability to think is an amazingly human trait. Over-thinking falls into that other category of too much of a good thing!

So, is the key thing not to over analyse? For sure, there should be some cohesion, expected outcomes, some contingencies, some boundary pushing, a sense of congruence and a healthy dose of ‘so what’.

What seems like a fair deal to me are small and meaningful actions while learning along the way.

Life Coaching is great in those instances. When all those options, ideas & plans are talked out with someone they can either make no sense or complete sense. I have yet to fully understand why! It’s simply what occurs when we have to vocalise our thoughts. Head space logic is very different to vocalised logic.

The nearest analogy I can draw is that perhaps coaching is a dry run, something akin to modelling, where you fashion & test your plan or idea within a safe & controlled environment. Here you can employ all or certain factors to see what works best under certain conditions. And then go off and build the thing! 🙂