Success!Ezine
Volume 5 Issue 2 -- February 2007
DrCarolWebster.com
Copyright 2006   All Rights Reserved

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E. Carol Webster, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in consulting practice in Fort Lauderdale, FL providing professional development consultation, private practice development and promotion, media psychology and author consultation, as well as cultural competency consultation for clinicians in need of case review. Feel free to call or e-mail for more information.

Analysis Paralysis

E. Carol Webster, Ph.D. 
Copyright ©  2007

Can’t make a decision? Always waiting to get more facts, figures, and analyses? You may be suffering from analysis paralysis and have to break free of this grip if you are to be an effective manager of your staff or business. Fear is usually at the root of this problem. Many people have experienced harsh or guilt-evoking parenting with zero tolerance for mistakes, preventing them from gaining confidence in how to figure things out, try new strategies, and take some risks in order to excel. To cope, you learn to avoid punishment or ridicule by playing it safe -- stalling until you feel sure that your solution is 100% correct – a condition that’s hard to attain. Thus, few decisions get made. Stop drifting along, feeling content to blame fate for the way things turn out. You have more control in life than that and can stand the heat that comes along with being a decision-maker.

Stop fooling around. Holding meeting after meeting, requesting more information, and pouring over papers and reports isn’t getting you anywhere. It may make you feel like you’re doing something because you’re busy reading about the problem and discussing it, but doing this doesn’t equal action. Of course, it’s important to collect data – particularly analyses of what worked and didn’t work in the past. But, simply being inundated with information is only a security blanket and you have to reach a point where you stop collecting and start taking action. Set a deadline and stick to it!

You didn’t get this far by not knowing something, so trust yourself to be able to make smart decisions. Get comfortable with the fact that there’s a degree of uncertainty and risk involved with every decision and that this is to be expected. Naturally, no one wants to be in a situation where they will be blamed for error but your boss is not your parent and even though some can be quite authoritarian in their manner, they typically want you and the business to succeed and understand that even with the best effort things don’t always turn out as planned. This doesn’t mean that they will accept repeated mistakes – nor should they – but you are likely to find them to be quite reasonable and not just waiting to see you mess up. Even when you’re the boss and the buck stops with you, or when you work alone and have to make lots of decisions that affect the lives of others, there will be many times when you’re not absolutely certain about what to do. Based upon your expertise, knowledge of the past, and new information at hand, -- and yes, a little hunch and intuition too, some decision is likely to better than no decision at all.

Since entrenched patterns of behavior are hard to break, get some help. Retain a coach or ask trusted colleagues to let you know when you’re overanalyzing a problem so that you can get yourself unstuck. It’s impossible to change behavior if you don’t know you’re doing something so it’s important for you to know when you’ve fallen into analysis paralysis mode. If you find that you can’t move to the point of making a decision, get expert help to address your fears of failure and of being blamed so that you can become the type of business manager you deserve to be. 

Analysis paralysis is a professional crippler. It prevents you from doing your job effectively and keeps you inhibited by fear. Your true capabilities remain stifled, cheating your business of your great talents and limits your professional advancement. Get unstuck and watch your career soar!

Ask Dr. Webster...

Dear Dr. Webster: I’m an active networker and attend a lot of events every week. What amazes me is how insecure husbands/wives can’t seem to separate themselves from their spouse's hip at these functions so that networking can occur.  If looks could kill, me and other singles would be dead from the dagger looks we get when we’re just there to do business. Suggestions for handling this?

 -- Daggered by Dirty Looks

 Dear Daggered by Dirty Looks: This is one of the most frequent complaints I receive – not only from singles, but also from those in relationships who are trying to conduct business but who can’t really talk to the individuals they want to connect with because spouses are hanging on for dear life. First, it’s important to understand that many times this is happening because these spouses are extremely uncomfortable with networking and cling because they don’t know how to mix and mingle and don’t want to be left by themselves. Hanging on to their spouse gives them someone to talk to and serves as a prop as they move around the room. Other times, networking spouses have been chewed out before about not being attentive during these occasions so now they go overboard in making the point that they are “taken” and are in a relationship in order to make the visiting spouse feel more secure and at ease. Some may have, indeed, used networking events as flirtation playgrounds and now compensate when the spouse is present to cover this.

But, be that as it may, you are correct to find it ridiculous that couples can’t fan out and fend for themselves at business events – and at social events, too, for that matter.  Some serious deal-making often takes place at these events and individuals should not feel uptight about needing to move to a corner of the room to discuss business or be made to feel that they have nefarious motives because they leave the room together to talk. But the people who have to learn different behavior are the couples themselves, not you. The visiting spouses need to learn to deal with their personal or relationship insecurities and understand that these events hold potential career and social benefits for them too even if they aren’t these to conduct business per se. The networking spouses need to conduct their business and make sure that their partners understand the purpose of attending these events. Those with guilty consciences and relationship baggage need therapy so that they can interact in public without such drama and insecurity. But this is not your job, so simply ask the individual who is hog-tied when it will be good to call or get together to discuss business and leave it at that.

 --Dr. Webster

Got a Question?

Ask Dr. Webster

Success Motivator

The guy who takes a chance, who walks the line between the known and unknown, who is unafraid of failure, will succeed.

-- Gordon Parks

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Success!Ezine
E. Carol Webster, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychology Consulting
DrCarolWebster.com
954.797.9766
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