Information vs Action
How much more data do you need to see? What unknown is still pending? What additional pieces of the puzzle are necessary for you to move forward? How much information do you need before you act?
Or is there another factor in play, one that is probably playing a much bigger role in your “not yet” stance than you may realize? It’s worth checking in with yourself a little deeper here. In fact, I suggest that you demand that your hesitation speak up. Interrogate it a bit. Ask for proof, for evidence, for the receipts. My years in this work would lead me to believe that your hesitation is not entirely due to simply needing more information. You might in fact just be playing slow or playing small. So, what specifically does it need prior to committing to action?
I emphasize specifically in the sentence above because often times, when pressed, many people find it really hard to articulate concrete concerns. They instead start with a vague fear of “something bad” happening, or even say just the raw uncertainty itself is felt as a negative. So I suggest you dig a little deeper. Can you concretize the fear into an actual event? One that is tangible and measurable? Or do those attempts end up sounding a bit hollow, or even empty when coaxed out of the shadows? Even if you have a pretty clear worst case scenario, like losing all your money placed in a potential investment, what are the real odds of that worst case scenario actually happening? And even so, how would more information change that risk?
John Boyd, a great military strategist you can read more about here, created the idea of the OODA Loop where OODA is short for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act. In any kind of conflict or environment where there are winners and losers, he postulates that the “winners” are almost always those who can “close” their OODA Loops the fastest and then begin a new one as the environment changes.
Why do I bring this up? Look again at that last step – Act. You can “decide” all you want, but it comes down to action in the end. At least when it comes to “winning” in a competitive environment. This idea of the OODA Looping is extremely relevant for many folks in today’s digital world where agility, flexibility, and real time responsiveness is at a premium. Holding “loops” open any longer than necessary can be quite costly, especially for those in leadership positions.
Now let’s flip things around. How much are you risking by not acting now? How much ground are you ceding as you hold off and “wait for more information”? Where are you unnecessarily sitting somewhere, either before or after “Decide,” but short of actual “Action”? Where are incurring on-going costs simply by not acting? Where can you start your process of iteration by turning a decision into concrete action?
This exercise is a good tool to add your processing toolbox, especially if you are leaning into a new role, starting a new job, or jumping up to the next level. And just like with Boyd’s OODA Loop modeling, the more quickly you work through this exercise the better you’ll be at either accurately identifying the specific information you need to get clear on before you act, or even better, realize that there isn’t something specific you need other than to overcome your own resistance. Either way, change comes from Action, so what are you really waiting for?
