Anyone who has ever worked in the corporate sector, academia, or government at any level, will be familiar with the endless deliberation, dithering, and useless chatter of committee-based decision making. It seems we just loo-oove our committees. That must be because they prevent easy finger-pointing and accepting of responsibility if and when there is a snafu.
The longer I live, the more people, of all ages, I meet who seem to be incapable of making a decision. It might be as simple as deciding which shoes to put on in the morning, which local restaurant to visit for an evening meal, whether or not to ask that new gal out for a drink after work on Friday evening, or something more serious like whether or not to take that promotion and transfer recently offered to you by your company.
Regardless of the precise situation, there is invariably a great deal of hand wringing, apron twisting, and endless talk without a decision being reached. Arrggh!!! This phenomenon is not a recent development although it seems worse now than ever before. But we have certainly seen the problem reflected in popular entertainment like movies and TV for the last 20+ years at least. Watch almost any rerun of Seinfeld or Friends, for example, and you'll quickly see what I mean.
As average guys concerned with kicking up our everyday style several notches, let's work to change this annoying trend. Let's do our utmost to make conclusive decisions in all areas of our lives. Efficiently, in fairly short order, and without round after round of endless and self-indulgent deliberation. I am hardly suggesting careless disregard for others and rash action. What I do advocate, though, is for people to quickly take stock of a situation and its related possible choices, make a decision, and then stick to it. Grow up, act like a man, and own your decisions, guys. Accept the consequences, if there are any, and move forward to the best of your skills and abilities. Let's not live our own lives like Ally McBeal and forever row our figurative boat in circles without progressing in the river of life for Heaven's sake.
As for yours truly, I'm off to examine the contents of the upstairs hall closet and decide which of three odd jackets should go to the tailor's next for minor alterations. But wait! Maybe not. Oh, I don't know. What if I make the wrong decision? Someone, anyone, tell me what I ought to do. Let's meet up at Central Perk, grab a couple of lattes, and talk it to death. Yeah. That's it. Oh, thank you. I feel so much better now.
-- Heinz-Ulrich
Heinz,
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a couple of quotes. I believe Mark Twain said "In my mind I have imagined thousands of terrible things, only a few of which have come true.' A definition of origin unknown to me: Camel: a horse designed by committee.
You have a great website. Keep up the good posts.
Dr.CSP