Volume 7  Number 3   |   March 2017

There is More Than One Right Way

We spend a lot of time vacillating in our decision making not because we don't have an answer or a solution, but rather because we're unsure it's the optimal answer or solution. This is a variation of the search for perfection, except it's really an insecurity caused by the belief that there might be (must be) a better way.

Although we know how to do something, what if there is a better way? What if our phone solicitations for a charity are bringing in money but perhaps we should be spending our time asking for something else or in another way? What if we know we should send the buyer a proposal based on the information we discussed, but what if there's a better way to ensure the receptivity of the document?

We often think there's a better way to drive to a popular and crowded destination, only to find the alternative was worse than the original choice. How many times have you seen (poor) drivers keep changing lanes in heavy traffic, only to fall farther and farther behind you?

The Magic of the Many Good Ways

What we have to accept is that there are many good ways. If you choose one and stick with it, you'll in all probability be just as successful as if you'd selected another good way and stayed with that. We have to free ourselves from the delusion that there is always a better way. There are almost always several ways, and all of them can be just fine, or insignificantly different in their quality so as not to matter.

Stop worrying about whether your proposal is in the best possible configuration, or that your route is the fastest available, or that your brand is the most powerful possible. Just work on an outstanding proposal, fast route, and powerful brand. They will all do the trick.

People tend to get frustrated when they find that someone who went on the exact same vacation dined in a fabulous restaurant that they were unaware of, despite the fact that the restaurants they did visit were excellent. They're frustrated that they may have missed something even better.

Don't fall victim to the single right way. Understand that there are many right ways, no perfect way, and you can make the most of whatever good route you choose. The search for perfection is futile, but the search for "close to perfection" is no less tedious.

Select a good road, then make it your own.

© Alan Weiss 2017