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As pointed out in another comment, analysis paralysis is the term you're looking for here. One strategy to get past it is to timebox the analysis phase. For ins

by romanhn 10y ago

As pointed out in another comment, analysis paralysis is the term you're looking for here. One strategy to get past it is to timebox the analysis phase. For instance, give yourself two days (or however long is reasonable) to spend on research, but no more. At the end of the two days your should either have a clear answer or you will have run out of time and need to make a decision based on imperfect information. Realize that information is always imperfect and most times the options won't impact the end result in very different ways (otherwise the answer would've been clear), so there's a lot of benefit to just getting started. Decisions can be reversed as well, so nothing is final. "A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." - George S. Patton

mmsimanga 10y ago
Thanks, I like the idea of setting a rigid time frame for analysis.
Mz 10y ago
"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." - George S. Patton Thank you. I had never heard this. My ex was career military and he always said "Sometimes, a ninety percent solution now is better than a one hundred percent solution later." That appears to be what filtered down into military culture from Patton's remark. (FWIW: My ex's first duty station was a former Patton unit.) For the OP, I will add that I find some of the following rubrics generally useful: 1) Assign X amount of time for research or thinking on it. Pick a date/ time when you will decide/execute. When that date/time arrives, you are done researching/cogitating. It is time to do something. 2) Take a break between thinking/researching and acting. Do your research before lunch and execute after lunch or do your research late in the day and execute the follow morning after sleeping on it. 3) Track performance metrics. Get hard data and see if your actual performance is really as bad as you think it is. Often, very competent or knowledgeable people have endless criticisms of their own work because they are more aware of defects or potential defects. Mediocre performers often think they did better than they did because they are oblivious to how bad it is. The solution here is objective measures of performance. Humans are tremendously bad at figuring out how well they are doing based on subjective feelings or opinions. 4) Anything worth doing is worth doing badly. In other words, partial solutions are better than no solution. Though, to be fair, this is basically another take on the Patton quote and the military rubric I am familiar with. Best.

by romanhn 10y ago

mmsimanga 10y ago

Thanks, I like the idea of setting a rigid time frame for analysis.

Mz 10y ago

"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." - George S. Patton Thank you. I had never heard this. My ex was career military and he always said "Sometimes, a ninety percent solution now is better than a one hundred percent solution later." That appears to be what filtered down into military culture from Patton's remark. (FWIW: My ex's first duty station was a former Patton unit.) For the OP, I will add that I find some of the following rubrics generally useful: 1) Assign X amount of time for research or thinking on it. Pick a date/ time when you will decide/execute. When that date/time arrives, you are done researching/cogitating. It is time to do something. 2) Take a break between thinking/researching and acting. Do your research before lunch and execute after lunch or do your research late in the day and execute the follow morning after sleeping on it. 3) Track performance metrics. Get hard data and see if your actual performance is really as bad as you think it is. Often, very competent or knowledgeable people have endless criticisms of their own work because they are more aware of defects or potential defects. Mediocre performers often think they did better than they did because they are oblivious to how bad it is. The solution here is objective measures of performance. Humans are tremendously bad at figuring out how well they are doing based on subjective feelings or opinions. 4) Anything worth doing is worth doing badly. In other words, partial solutions are better than no solution. Though, to be fair, this is basically another take on the Patton quote and the military rubric I am familiar with. Best.