Don't Let Endless Meetings Derail Decision-Making

Does your organization have trouble making decisions? Perhaps you have endless meetings discussing whether to launch a campaign? Or debates about that rapid response to a recent development around a core issue that your organization is working on. Sound familiar? Our discomfort with taking action and making decisions quickly stems from our desire to want everyone at the table to be supportive and feel good about the decisions being made within the organization. But having too many cooks in the kitchen and this desire to please everyone actually derails our progress to make decisions, especially when it comes to rapid response. This is why organizations miss important opportunities during key moments to take the lead on national or local conversations relating to their advocacy campaigns.

I was reminded of this quandary we face after seeing Hugh MacLeod’s recent illustration that says “You don’t need more time. You need to decide.”  It was inspired by a post from Seth Godin and Dr. Len Schlesinger, President of Babson College who wrote a book on the subject, "Action Trumps Everything."

“Sometimes we feel that we need more time, more information, more... before making a move. Endless meetings, analysis and discussion will likely not get you any closer to a better decision. You need to make your move. Inaction is one of the greatest curses of life,” says MacLeod.

So the next time someone at your organization asks for another meeting to make yet another decision about a campaign, have this poster on hand to remind you that your organization does not need more time, you just need to make a decision. And “carry on” as Tim Gunn so eloquently says.