Some of you have the intellectual capacity to cut through complexity but are indecisive or afraid of being wrong. Can you wait until all the facts are in and the picture is clearer? Here’s the rub: You make a bet even when you don’t make a bet! That is, by not choosing to do anything different, you are choosing the status quo.
– Ram Charan
I’ve written much on this blog about change, about learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable, about not fearing fear, about not fearing failure, and about not settling for mediocrity and not defending the status quo. That quote above pretty much nailed all of the things I’ve written about, the qualities I strive for (or against) — but heavens forbid I become but do not see (so for the people who do know me, please do tell me when I am blindsided).
I am reminded of a blog post I just recently read about an interview with Sallie Krawcheck, CEO of Citigroup’s global wealth management. She talks about how a CEO often at times must make decision with imperfect information. At first, that may not sound like the right thing to do. Shouldn’t one wait until one has all the information?
Now that I think about it, if everyone had perfect information — then the best choice would probably be so obvious, and everyone would place their bet on the obvious best choice. Hence, making the best choice _would_ by definition, be the choice of the status quo. Status quo to me is pretty much mediocrity.
If you’re like everyone else, then you’re just an average person, the mediocre. So how do you break out of the pack and stand out? By beating the status quo. And to obtain results better than the average everybody else, it makes sense that one has to risk some uncertainty, for example, by making decisions with imperfect information. The adage, no pain no gain is true. Risk is proportional to reward. You risk nothing, you get nothing.
The quote above struck a chord inside of me, because after reading it, I start to realize that I have been just that person Ram Charan spoke of. I delay on taking an action for want of a more complete picture — and I implicitly without realizing it made the decision of NOT taking an action. Not actively taking an action is the easy way out for lazy cop-outs, and because inaction requires NO effort, it is usually the preferred choice of the status quo.
For my absolute hate of taking the mediocre path — I will now remind myself to the best of my ability, to be more proactive in making decisions, avoiding inaction, in spite of imperfect information. I’m not talking about taking blind chances of course, I need to practice more in making educated guesses, weighing risk vs. reward, including the cost of inaction. I will not always win, but the more I practice making decisions with imperfect information, I’ll be able to draw from a repertoire of previous choice, and gradually improve my batting average.
If I don’t start making decisions when faced with imperfect information, then I would have implicitly doomed myself to mediocrity. This is a wake up call for me. I need to rack up some failures while I’m still young — it’s something best taken cared of early in life so that you can move on.