Analysis Paralysis

Recently, a client was discussing whether to take action or to spend more time analyzing different options to pursue.  It reminded me of meeting someone who had been working on a business plan for 4 years, and wanted my opinion on whether she was ready to launch.

It was the most beautiful plan ever.  Everything that you can think of, everything that could possibly go wrong, had been addressed.  She knew her target market, knew the needs being met, had a plan to market and sell that tied in well with financial projections.  She had assessed her competition, knew their strengths and gaps, and had already started building relationships with influencers in her market.

When I said “you’re more than ready!” she replied “that’s great, so I’ll just need to revamp my website to make sure that it does this one technical thing perfectly, then I’m ready to go.  So I’m probably not more than 2 months away from launching”.

It’s a true story.  There are those that have an innate need to get it right the first time.  They don’t want to be wrong.  They don’t want to fail.  They don’t want to make a mistake.  Guess what?  You’re going to make a mistake.  So you may as well get that done and over with.

Most of the time, it is better to take some action than do nothing at all.  Think about it, you will never have perfect information, because when you think you do, the market will change.  Or your competitor will have done something different.  What is the real benefit of another hour of researching and pondering?  What if you act from the place where you already have all the information you need?  What would happen if you actually did it?

And really, what’s the worst thing that can happen?

Sometimes Nike has it right.  Just Do It!