Do It!
Overcome hesitation and take decisive action after thorough evaluation. Fear of consequences and being wrong often paralyzes us, but action is necessary for results.
THE IDEA
Do It!
YOU’VE CONSIDERED THE OPTIONS. YOU’VE EVALUATED them. You’ve found the best. It’s time to act!
There is no purpose to knowing what you should do and not doing it. If you want results, you need action.
Making a judgment and executing it is easier than it seems and harder than others imagine. One reason we fail to take action is that we’re scared to deal with the consequences. It’s not so much that we don’t know what to do as much as we don’t want to deal with the reality of doing it. We don’t want to have conversations, because they might hurt people’s feelings. We don’t want to fire the person that we like, even though we know they’re wrong for the job.
Our ego conspires with the social default and the inertia default to weaken our resolve and keep us from doing what we need to do. But that’s not the only reason we fail to act.
Another big reason we find action hard is that we’re afraid of being wrong. In this case inertia holds us in place as we gather more and more information in the false hope that we can ultimately eliminate uncertainty.
The source introduces three principles for knowing when to act, but they are not included in this passage. It does identify two criteria for categorizing a decision: how consequential it is and how reversible it is.
When to use it
A leader deciding whether to restructure a team
An individual considering a career change
A business owner evaluating whether to launch a new product
A student choosing a college major
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Avoiding Difficult Conversations
A manager avoids giving critical feedback to a team member because it might hurt their feelings, even though the feedback is necessary for performance improvement. This inaction leads to larger problems.
Not Firing the Wrong Person
An employer knows an employee isn't right for the job, but hesitates to let them go due to personal liking and fear of the termination process, causing team morale and productivity to drop.
Paralysis by Analysis
An investor keeps researching stocks endlessly, afraid of making a wrong choice, and never actually invests, missing market opportunities.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
What decision have you been postponing because you're afraid of the consequences?
How might the social default be influencing your inaction?
What is the worst that could happen if you acted today?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Clear Thinking Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results (Shane Parrish)