Every day we wake up to complexity and ambiguity. This is what happens when we are all connected and can load each other up with information and decisions to be made.
But that is the increasing value and challenge of the knowledge worker today. We have to make sense of the chaos and line up next steps. We have to make decisions about what things mean and what to do about them.
And making no decision is a decision. It’s the disengaged one. It’s the decision to not do the hard work of unpacking something and making up our minds on what to do.
Hiding doesn’t make our problems go away. Not responding when it is required only decreases your credibility, and that’s currency when it comes to connecting, collaborating and getting things done. We all take note and we can see when a no decision has been made.
Lucky for everyone, someone out there can help move the ball forward and get what is important done. It’s not as hard as it used to be to get answers.
If the ball comes your way in the game of hot potato, you can either punt and be passive playing it safe. Or you can do the hard work, earn your credibility stripes and become extremely valuable for making decisions.
The next thing is often murky and hard for people to do. But it is one of the highest value practices you can nurture and be known for.