Paralysis by Analysis

There are a couple of common reasons for bad decisions. The most common reason is simply not enough time was spent analyzing and thinking about the problem. Another common reason is no decision is made at all (and we all know that no decision is really a decision) because of too much or endless analysis.

The phrase “paralysis by analysis” refers to a decision postponed indefinitely due to spending too my time collecting or analyzing information.

Sometimes the people responsible for the decision truly do not know what to do; there is a lot of information to go over and it does take a long time. Sometimes it’s because they are afraid to decide – it could be a “lose – lose” type of decision, all solutions being painful.

However, most of the time uncertainty is just rearing its ugly head. People want to be certain that the decision they are making is the correct one. You can never be 100% certain, but if you follow a tried and true method, and diligently work each of the steps, you can at least be certain you have covered all your bases.

DecisionPlanner helps you avoid analysis paralysis. If you carefully do each step, the software will do the analysis and make a recommendation. The factors (or decision criteria) can be defined specifically enough that the answer can be researched and put into DecisionPlanner. Most of the time, the answers to the factors can be defined so that there is no interpretation needed. This means that you spend your time researching the alternatives, but not analyzing the answers to death. That’s what DecisionPlanner does.

Analysis paralysis is a bad thing. Use a tool like DecisionPlanner to avoid it.

Would you like some help with decision making? Try DecisionPlanner at www.yoopersoft.com.