Jarlath Duffy - Change from Within
Just Do It!
A cursory history of management reveals that in days of yore (and to a lesser degree today) a major determinant in deciding promotion was if a person didn't make decisions then their bib was clean and they were accordingly safe to promote i.e. they wouldn't rock the boat or ruffle feathers.
Given that a simple definition of a manger is a 'person who gets results through people', it follows that if subordinates are waiting for a manager to make a decision and there is none forthcoming then that manager is perceived as weak by the troops and this will negatively impact on results.
Consequently, a key function of a manager is the process of decision-making on a timely basis. It is the exercising of this function that distinguishes the effective manager from the less-effective manager. On some occasions, managers hope that an issue requiring a decision will go away, dissolve or be taken up by somebody else. Decisiveness is a quality that most good managers possess. Managers often let themselves get weighed down in their decision-making, especially those with too much education. As a manger you are responsible for gathering as many facts and projections as you possibly can. But at some point you have to take that leap of faith. First, because even the right decision is wrong if it is made too late. Second, because in most cases there is no such thing as certainty.