We make decisions all day long. What to wear, what to eat, what time to go to bed. Why are so many of us reluctant to make decisions at work? It doesn’t help our workload, and it drives our staff crazy.

An article in the 8 Nov 2005 Wall Street Journal says that many managers are terrible decision-makers—mostly because large corporations reward decision avoiders. If you never make a decision, you can largly avoid blame. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

Well, no. This isn’t “The Apprentice“. Good managers look for responsibility and actively take it. Not only that, but they encourage their staff to seek out responsibility and to make decisions.

One of the many things I’ve tried to impart to my staffs over the years is that, most of the time, I don’t mind if they make mistakes. Mistakes mean they are trying and stretching and growing. I’d rather that they do something and make an error than never do anything at all. What I do mind is if they make stupid mistakes (i.e., not double-checking their figures in a budget submission, for example) or, if they make the same mistake over and over. That tells me that they aren’t learning.

If you’re not used to making decisions, start small. Next time asks where you want to meet for lunch, make a decision. Instead of letting them choose, speak up. “Let’s meet at the Double T Diner at 1 PM”. Don’t worry about what the other person wants. They’ll probably be relieved at getting off the hook of picking a lunch place and, if not, then next time they’ll speak up instead of passing the buck.

Don’t waste your time on decisions that don’t matter. If you spend 15 minutes dithering about which movie to see, that’s time you’ll never get back. Make a decision. Or let your partner pick one and go along with whatever he or she says.

You’ll never get anywhere by ducking the hard choices. Stand out. Step up to the plate and make the decision. It’ll get easier with practice, I promise. And you’ll be happier, too.

“Nowadays people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.”—Oscar Wilde