It’s no coincidence that AP has re-entered my life. She often shows up when work is busy and I’m having to manage through significant periods of change. She beckons me to take comfort in delaying decisions for just one more day. It’s safer that way, she says. You’ll have more information tomorrow…you’ll think more clearly in the morning…it’s no big deal, people can wait another day. These are all things AP says to me, and I have to admit, they sound pretty darn good.
But I don’t want to be in relationship with AP. I’ve been there, done that, and have the t-shirt to prove it. So I came up with a new mantra this week to keep AP at arm’s length. When it comes to navigating through the murky waters of change, I’m going to decide, learn, and adapt.
Decide – I’ve learned that I will rarely have all the information and data I would like in order to make the perfect decision. In today’s environment of rapid-fire change, perfect decisions don’t exist. I’ve committed to making the best decision possible given what I know at the present time. Will it be 100% correct the first time? Probably not. But at least I’ll be doing something to move forward rather than hanging out with AP and doing nothing.
Learn – AP has tried to convince me in the past that spending time with her is the smart thing to do because it will allow me to make better decisions and avoid costly mistakes. Well, I’ve learned that making mistakes is actually one of the best ways to learn and improve. I’m going to decide on a course of action, pursue it, and see what I learn from the experience.
Adapt – Learning is great, but if you don’t do anything with the new-found knowledge, it doesn’t have much value. Adapting is putting learning into practice and it’s much more attractive to me that being in relationship with AP. She likes to tell me that I have to get things 100% right the first time and it’s not OK to change course after I’ve made a decision. That’s just another one of her manipulative lies.
Decide, learn, adapt. Decide, learn, adapt. Decide, learn, adapt. It’s an iterative cycle of managing change by making the best decision possible given the information available, learning from the successes and failures of the experience, and adapting to the new reality based on what has been learned.
Best of all, it keeps me away from Analysis Paralysis. That girl is bad news.