There’s no better way to show weakness than by being indecisive.
Failing to make a decision actually involves making two decisions: one to postpone doing something, and one to make the decision to postpone doing that thing.
In the time it took you to make those two pointless decisions, someone else has already swiftly made 10 productive decisions to better themselves and their law firm.
When making a decision, consider the following:
- Do you have enough information to make a decision right now?
- Would it behoove you to wait until you have more information in order to make a better or different decision?
- Would having more information set you up for success or hinder you from proceeding?
Sometimes waiting around to discuss every possibility can lead to stalling your decision. It’s important to recognize when you really do need to know more or when you can go ahead with what you have. Usually the probability of making the right decision outweighs the probability of making the wrong one, so it makes sense to make a choice, even before you feel like you have all possible information.
This should be the case when making a decision involving anyone, whether it’s a vendor, a contractor, or another business owner. Let’s say you need something from them, but there’s an unknown factor at hand.
Even if you go ahead and make that decision, the downside of it is them telling you, “No.” The upside? You get everything you want.
When in doubt, never be afraid to ask.
The three most important aspects when making a decision are:
- Have a framework
- Make it quickly
- Be mindful of your wellbeing
If you can’t get those three things under control, you’ll never be able to make a truly good decision.
In addition to these three things, one of the biggest barriers is an unwillingness to make a decision at all. Whether it’s because they can’t at that moment, or they’re not in the right headspace to, or they simply don’t want to, it holds them back regardless. This creates a mental sludge that slows you down at every turn.
When you slow down, so does your law firm.
Some people take 10 months to make a decision, while others take 10 seconds. Understand who you are and how you operate and make a plan for making a plan. Don’t be the reason your law firm gets stuck behind when there are a million things to do.
