Paralysis by Analysis
I remember the first time I heard the phrase "paralysis by analysis”. I was about 25 years old in meeting with my manager and his boss, Dave. I don't recall the topic or project, but I do recall Dave turning, looking at me, and saying those words about the progress, or lack there of, of the topic of discussion. I wasn't upset by this phrase. I was actually intrigued. We hadn't been doing nothing. We needed more data, at least I thought we did. Crunching data is an action and we didn't have a clear answer yet.
Over the years I saw this pattern of my desire to find the correct, undisputed, clear answer that would bring certainty to the next step. After all, I have an engineering degree and know the answers are out there. As frustrating as it was to not always feel I had found the "correct" answer, the idea of moving forward without certainty was, well, scary…
What if I was wrong?
How do you know when it's really good enough?
What would it say about me if I made a mistake? What would the repercussions be?
Would I get in trouble? Fired? Would people think I'm stupid?
How can I possibly take the next step when I'm unsure of where I stand with the info I have?
Academia has a delightful exactness to it. Each class has a syllabus, text book, quizzes, test, and it is clear to whom you can go to get the answers. It’s easy to tell where you stand. I found safety in this structure and it was well suited to my other form of safety – perfectionism. While there is a lot of overlap in the Venn diagram of paralysis by analysis and perfectionism, they are not identical. They both, however, are very effective at rubbing less risk adverse and more action oriented, non-detailed people the wrong way when taken applied in excess.
Back in Dave's office, I felt confused my gravitation to find the right answer made me successful in school. And when I exerted this level of detail in other arenas I did well and received praise. For the first ten years of my career if you would have asked me my strengths, perfectionism and orientation to detail would have been in my Top 5.
Over time I eventually began to see how these traits were not always what the situation called for. They were over used tools in my toolbox and not the right tool for every occasion. Today, I proudly say that I'm a perfectionist in recovery. While I love digging in the weeds, I make sure to come up for air. I've come to realize how much wasted energy and effort I poured into projects that were unnecessary, over kill, and just plain exhausting.
I've adopted the zoom in and out method taught by my heat transfer professor Dr. Peck Cho at Michigan Tech. Start big-what do you know, what's important, what isn't, what do you need to get-the answer you are looking for. Zoom in crunch some data and check back in at the 40,000 ft view to see if you are headed the right direction. Move back in and when you are finished see if your answer makes sense with what you set out to accomplish.
I’m still learning to find happiness in action, even if it feels messy. I've honed my "talent" into a specialty tool that I keep for special occasions and use with glee when the opportunity presents itself. And I do have people that appreciate my skill with this ability AND that I have the ability to turn it off when it’s time to come back up to 40,000 feet.
More importantly l've learned what that "paralysis" feels like. In the way a kettle calls out the water is boiling I've come to know when I'm in too far and it’s time to poke my head out of the weeds.
Having had this experience has helped me to know that when team members are stuck in the weeds, it’s best to check in with them and share what you’re seeing, they may be too far in to realize. When this happens, especially repeatedly, the discussion may not so much be about “when are they going to finish” but moving the conversation to what risks they see to both the program as well as concerns about their concerns about them professionally. These are the true coaching moments when you are able to set the facts and data aside and understand the next layer that’s driving the behavior.
Want to take the conversation further? Check out August’s group coaching session on Paralysis by Analysis.
