May was a quiet month on the blog front, as our family sadly dealt with a death in the family, my father-in-law.
Dealing with death is about one of the most traumatic things most families deal with. And there is an awful lot to organise.
In my father-in-law's case, a will could not be found detailing his wishes, and an awful paralysis crept in amongst the family. Because no-one had a piece of paper with his wishes, no-one decided anything to do with his funeral, what kind it would be, buried or cremated.
Everyone was so frightened about “getting it wrong” and being judged to have gone against his wishes, no-one did anything for over a week.
This is probably the worst kind of decision paralysis – not making a decision didn't change the fact he was dead or that he'd need a funeral. It took a lot of courage for one sister to go “I think he'd want ...” and everyone fall behind that.
Indecision is probably one of the worst thing in any project. Indecision is often disguised as waiting for more information, but really it's often just putting off the point where a decision will be made,
In my book it's always easier to work with a decision which creates problem than just waiting on hold for any decision to be made ...
Sorry to hear of your loss.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your feelings about indecision. I think the fear of "getting it wrong" is one that's particularly common in the QA world - perhaps because we are often the last line of defense? I know I struggle with that myself.
Thanks Joe.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding as I'm increasingly involved as a Test Manager with working out test strategy and effort from the beginning of projects, that a lot of projects seem to be stuck for too long between the "red stop" and the "green go" light as requirements and contracts wait to be approved.
And all the time, the clock is ticking.