MondayMorningInsight - Leadership & Encouragement for Church Leaders

Would You Just Make a Freakin’ Decision Already?

Posted by: Todd
Posted on: Tue, October 13, 2009
Viewed 114
(10) comments so far

Would You Just Make a Freakin’ Decision Already?

I love Seth's post today: Make a decision. It doesn't have to be a wise or perfect one. Just make one.

Here's what Seth writes:

It doesn't have to be a wise decision or a perfect one. Just make one.

In fact, make several. Make more decisions could be your three word mantra.

No decision is a decision as well, the decision not to decide. Not deciding is usually the wrong decision. If you are the go-to person, the one who can decide, you'll make more of a difference. It doesn't matter so much that you're right, it matters that you decided.

Of course it's risky and painful. That's why it's a rare and valuable skill.

Seriously, Pastor. Make a decision. Don't be stupid, but do make a decision. Stop your teetering. Pick a side. Be decisive.

Seriously, Church leader. Make a call. The facts will never ALL be in. The situation will never be perfect to make the perfect decision.

And most decisions have some inherent risk involved. That's ok. Risk is a good thing.

So... you've got five minutes. Just make the decision.

And you know exactly which decision I'm talking about. The one that's been dogging you for days, even weeks or months. Should I do this, or should I do that?

Most decisions do not take weeks or months.

If you need to... start out slow. Small decision. Any decision. Just make one.

I'd love to hear what decision you've made, or what decision you've been putting off. Anyone transparent enough to share? (You can do so confidentially if you like on this post).

Todd

PS -- You can read more of Seth Godin's stuff here. It's all excellent!

Comments

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Dave on Tue, October 13, 2009

Is is coincidental that the graphic for this post has a purple and gold tint? Are there any subtle references to a certain (previously retired) NFL quarterback in this post?
billyv33 on Tue, October 13, 2009

“Seriously, Church leader. Make a call. The facts will never ALL be in. The situation will never be perfect to make the perfect decision.”
As Gladwell said at Catalyst, having all of the information at your disposal doesn’t necessarily lead to the right decision or plan of action. Humility in your decision making is more important that information.
B. Baltimore Brown on Tue, October 13, 2009

Gladwell also said that it’s been proven that the more information a person has to make a decision doesn’t actually help them improve their decision-making. In fact, only their confidence in the decision grows, not the accuracy of the decision. Good stuff.
Peter Hamm on Tue, October 13, 2009

It’s funny.

My wife and I will go to dinner…

I make a decision about what to order in under 30 seconds.

The waiter will sometimes have to come back two or three times while my wife makes her decision.

Neither one is more or less right, but we all have our process to make them.

That said, my quickly made decision is always pretty tentative, and I will change my mind quickly sometimes, too.

My wife on the other hand, thinks long and hard, makes a decision… and never looks back.

Different people… different process…
Leonard on Tue, October 13, 2009

Great stuff! I had a boss once who chewed me out for not making a decision. I didn’t want to make the wrong one so I made none. He nearly fired me. One of the best lessons I ever learned about leadership.
RevEric on Tue, October 13, 2009

I decided to leave a church that wasn’t making any decisions. (Ok the process wasn’t as simple as that but played a big part in me moving on and fits the article ).

I now pastor a different church that makes decisions.
Ken Eastburn on Tue, October 13, 2009

Our church decided to sell our building.

I think the reason why we put off making decisions is because we are afraid we will make the wrong decision. While, to some extent, that’s a legitimate fear and particularly one that guards us from making stupid decisions, in putting off decisions we are demonstrating a lack of trust in the Holy Spirit. Excluding stupid decisions, our decisions are never the end-all (though we act like it). Even if we make the “wrong” decision, we can still trust that God will pick up the slack.
Ronnie on Tue, October 13, 2009

We make decisions everyday but those decisions that are influencing lives are not made because of fear of hard work. Am I able to cope? How much time, effort, money do I need to give? Sometimes I am guilty of that. I would say today, “What do I want to INVEST into that decision that I am about to make?” or “I want to make a difference by my decision I am about to make” Tks bro, for the post!
Fred on Fri, October 16, 2009

I’ve made the decision that we should all stop using the word “freaking.”
Shawn on Sat, October 17, 2009

I agree with Fred. I’ve decided I hate that word, and I didn’t even have to pray about it.