How to Cope with "Analysis Paralysis"

A reader writes:

I have just joined a a new firm which suffers from what Gen. Colin Powell once called "Analysis Paralysis." My job is to gather statistics from a myriad of information systems and then present that data to my manager, who makes the final decision. But usually by the time that has happened, the window of opportunity has closed, because in our market, agility and speed are the keys to success. I present my strategies and seem to gain the requisite approval and buy-in. However, I do not have the slightest decision-making authority, even though I remain accountable for success and failure. I have been reduced to the role of a statistician and don't feel that I'm growing in my career. Any suggestions?

In all likelihood, if you made a decision that your manager would normally have made, and the result were to the manager's benefit, you'd be praised and given more authority. But you don't do that because you're afraid of not following the rules, specifically the (probably unspoken) rule that all important decisions must be run up the management chain.

In other words, you are part of the problem. You're waiting for your manager to show the courage to delegate authority to you. At the same time, your manager (whether he realizes it or not) is waiting to see whether you'll seize the authority you need to get your job done.

Let me put it another way. Why should your manager risk his job by delegating decision-making power to you, when you're not willing to risk your job by taking action without his explicit approval?

With that in mind, there are two classic methods for dealing with "analysis paralysis":

Method #1: Manipulate the manager with his own fear. Fearful people are absurdly easy to manipulate (as you should know), so all you need do is use your manager's fear against him. Each time you make a recommendation, phrase it so that if a decision isn't made within a specific time frame, the project will be guaranteed to fail. Paint the failure with vivid terms so that it seems as scary as possible. A revenue-busting competitive threat is the usual ploy. In the computer business, we used to call this "waving the big blue flag" in honor of IBM, which was the perfect company to hold up as an inevitable threat. At one place where I worked, you could get even the most pusillanimous poobah to make a quick decision by telling him that IBM was about to do the same thing.

Method #2: Make a decision, take action, and report status. Here's where we separate the adults from the children. Don't play your manager's game. Do as much analysis as you think reasonable, make your own decision about what needs to be done, and start doing it (and get others to follow suit). Send a memo to your manager that starts with your decision, explains the actions you're taking, with your analysis as background info. If you're afraid that your manager might freak out (and cause difficulties), identify two or three possible outcomes of the action that you're taking -- all of which redound to the manager's benefit. Example: you're proposing a solution that will require custom work that will need the customer's approval prior to payment. Make sure that the custom work can be turned into a product, even if the customer never pays you a dime.

Which of the two methods you try is directly dependent upon your level of personal courage. Corporate bureaucrats (the successful ones) always use Method #1 when confronted with "analysis paralysis." Entrepreneurs (even if they work in huge firms) tend to use Method #2. It's basically up to you to decide what you're made of.

In any case, don't come complaining to me that you could lose your job if you began acting independently. It's your career. If you want to spend it number crunching and waiting for approval, that's your decision. At least that would be one decision that you're willing to make.