A friend lamented about how his wife could narrow down books of upholstery swatches to the final five in about 10 minutes but then struggled for days to select the ultimate choice. “This calls for a decision, not a discovery,” he told her. “You can look until the end of time but what you need is to pick one.”
Think about the situations you find yourself in. Are you making quick decisions when you would benefit from a bit more discovery — or do you avoid making a decision under the guise of needing more information when really what should occur is taking decisive action?
Keep the metaphor of the upholstery books in mind: do you need to look through more samples or do you need to place the order? Clarifying the distinction between a decision and discovery can go a long way toward improving your relationships and your work.
