Hello from the land of lockdown in Melbourne.
It feels a little like Groundhog Day down here and it’s easy to forget what day it is.
I’ve noticed that it’s also harder to make decisions right now. Have you noticed it too? One moment I feel definite of mind and ready to decide on one project out of the five projects I’ve started. The next moment I’m second-guessing the decision. I then seek advice from my most trusted friends and business colleagues, yet still I’m none the wiser!
To make it worse, I beat myself up because I can’t decide. And when I notice many of my colleagues making bold decisions to pivot or reinvent their business with a single-minded focus, I wonder why I can’t do that too. I’m rather envious of their decisiveness.
Yesterday on my morning walk, I pondered on that word ‘decide’. It’s a ‘cide’ word like homicide, suicide, fungicide, pesticide and genocide. They all concern death, destruction, extermination and deliberate killing. The ‘cide’ ending originates from the Latin word caedere meaning ‘to kill’. So, when we ‘decide’ on something we are in fact killing off other opportunities.
By the end of the walk, I’d made a decision not to make a decision. That doesn’t mean I’m laying idle. Quite the opposite in fact. Instead, I’ve chosen to allocate time to each of my five projects while also remaining open to other opportunities. I’m giving each project the time and attention required to allow them to gently unfold.
Perhaps it will be the project itself that decides it has a life, instead of me deciding on it? Or perhaps it will be you my dear readers or the market place who will make the decision for me? Perhaps two will die a natural death and three will thrive? Or maybe one will be a block-buster rendering all the other projects obsolete? Who knows?
In uncertain times, it can be tempting to feel we must make decisions. It’s a way to gain some sort of certainty and control. I wonder if not making any decision at all however, just might be the best decision we can make right now? By being undecided, we won’t kill off the myriad of opportunities this weird new world might throw at us. That doesn’t mean we do nothing. It means we keep doing the work while allowing things to unfold in their natural order. What do you think?
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With love
PS If you missed my recent podcast Conversations on The Coronation. Listen here
About me: I’m a Purpose Educator and author of The Purpose Project. I help leaders attract and retain the best people by harnessing the power of deep purpose and storytelling. I do this through The Purpose Project for Companies, a customised consultative process for co-creating a new purpose statement and The Purpose Project Course, a 7-step online course to help employees bring their own why to work.