Or maybe it’s “no” too soon and “yes” too late. Hard to generalize. But one thing seems true- teetering between the extremes of shooting from the hip and endless hand-wringing seems pretty common. This unattributed quote gets to heart of the 40/70 Rule that Colin Powell advised.
Making a decision with less than 40% of the relevant information was shooting from the hip, uninformed- impulsive. And requiring more than 70% of the relevant information was being a fraidy cat- dithering and allowing someone else to control the outcome.
Learning about the Powell Rule reminded me of a quote from the social scientist Pauline Bart. “Everything is data but data isn’t everything.” The trick is figuring out what matters and what’s worthless. Find the sweet spot between yes/no and too soon/ too late. Like with other hard things, it’s takes work.
While we’re practicing the 40/70, may as well work on the 80/20 or the law of the vital few. With regards to our stuff, 80% of the time, we using 20% of our things. Pareto’s 80/20 was formulated with regard to economic outcomes and causes but it works on a more tangible level with your things.
So, practice. Seldom impulsive and seldom dithering.