Making decisions can paralyze an organization. Sometimes leaders are faced with two good choices when it comes to things like picking a vendor, buying a copier, and purchasing bulk supplies How do you quickly?Clear the Path to a solution?
Think about what you want and what you need. Which gives you the most options? Here’s an example:
Recently during a family reunion, the number of visitors in a home exceeded the number of beds available. So a shopping trip was made to buy an air mattress.
As the person who would sleeping on air, I looked in the department store at my options. It was at this point that I realized that getting what you want isn’t always getting what you need. In this case, I was presented with two paths that would lead to a purchase. Both were related to the size of the bed.
Option A: Get a Full size air bed. If only one person will be sleeping on it, then why not save a few dollars. Why buy more bed than you need? Here, what I want is to save money with a bed that will get the job done.
Option B: Buy a Queen size model. While it’s more bed than is needed, this purchase is more about future needs. There’s the possibility of more family gatherings and a chance that more people will be at them. You can’t make a Full size bed bigger to accommodate more people. In anticipation of future needs, spending more for a larger bed was the right choice.
There can be other variables that distract you from making a decision. Color, design, and available storage space are a few. People can be very passionate about these side issues
But in the end, they should not distract you from making the core decision: Whether to buy a bed that sleeps one or two.
To protect your time and not getting bogged down in the decision making process, focus exclusively on the ultimate benefit of a purchase.
