BRX Pro Tip: Over Analyzing is Worse Than Failing
Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tip. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, talk a little bit about analyzing the potential for a future course of action and preparing for the worst.
Lee Kantor: Yeah. I think, a lot of times, people spend way too much time overanalyzing. And I think that’s so much worse than actually failing. And if everybody’s kind of worst-case scenario is failing, that sometimes is too much of an impediment to actually then beginning. So, I think, you know, they always say paralysis by analysis is one of the things out there that slow people down. And that’s excessive overthinking that can lead to decision paralysis, preventing you from taking any action at all.
You know, one of our core values is take action fast. We’re always looking to quickly get information. And I think that a lot of times, people don’t take any action because they’re too busy doing more and more research, and then the opportunity kind of leaves. And this kind of inaction is often more detrimental than making a decision and potentially failing.
Second, I think, impaired decision making also comes into play. You think you’re getting more and more information, but you really don’t know if you’re getting the right information. So, overanalyzing can actually lead to poor decision making, because you’re making assumptions that may not be part of reality. And you can create a more a bad situation, turn a bad situation into a worse situation by not taking action at all. And only by focusing on worst case outcomes, you’re missing out on other possible opportunities that you’re not able to see yet.
And then, lastly, a lot of people have this kind of perfectionism trap where they just keep waiting and waiting for it to be perfect. And that’s just unrealistic. And then, you’re not going to be making any progress and you’re not going to finish anything if you’re always waiting for the perfect time or the perfect set of circumstances to do something. So, it’s important, I believe, to take action, learn, get some feedback from reality, take those experiences back to the team, look to make some improvements, and then success is going to happen in the future. As the saying goes, “The only thing worse than failing is never trying.” By taking action, risking failure, you open yourself up to growth, learning, and potential success.
