{"id":8864,"date":"2017-12-15T12:55:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T12:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intercom.com\/blog\/?p=8864"},"modified":"2020-07-30T12:57:06","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T11:57:06","slug":"action-vs-indecision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/","title":{"rendered":"The hidden costs of indecision"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"opening_paragraph\">One of the most expensive parts of running a startup isn&#8217;t the new feature you shipped that nobody used or the marketing experiment you ran that failed. It&#8217;s indecision.<\/p>\n<p>You might have have heard the story of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Buridan%27s_ass\">Buridan&#8217;s Ass<\/a> (no laughing down the back), the story of a donkey stuck between two identical stacks of hay. Because the donkey lacks any reason to choose one over the other, it cannot decide which one to eat, and so starves to death.<\/p>\n<p>Our setting isn&#8217;t the farmyard but the meeting room. Picture the following scene: eight\u00a0people in a room endlessly debating over a whiteboard, weighing up one decision over the next, but with little sign of progress being made. Tough decisions take time. But if every single decision at your company is agonized over, with no progress to show for it, alarm bells should be ringing.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Action_vs_Indecision_Inline_01_preview.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>At best, it\u2019s an opportunity cost. Using basic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/do-you-really-need-that-meeting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">meeting math<\/a>, for every eight\u00a0hours of indecision, you\u2019re trading eight\u00a0hours of productivity\u00a0\u2013 hours you\u00a0could spend actually executing one of the options you\u2019re agonising over. Add in salaries, hourly rates and attention diverted and the costs are greater still.<\/p>\n<p>At worst, indecision can lead to analysis paralysis, a slow poison that will slow you down and kill your morale. People can end up frozen by indecision, which creates a willingness\u00a0to abdicate responsibility. There are hundreds of ways to say &#8220;Let\u2019s wait until&#8230;&#8221;, in the hope that new information will make your decision easier. But you can\u2019t always wait for the perfect conditions to set your course.<\/p>\n<p>Great companies are rarely built one indecisive step at a time. Startups especially aren\u2019t designed to tread water. This isn&#8217;t about throwing shit at a wall and seeing what sticks, but most of your time should be spent doing, not choosing. I can\u2019t think of a single better way to spend a couple of hours that has more impact than making a decision, sticking to it, and coming up with a few ways to execute it.<\/p>\n<p>You can think and debate about a decision all day long. Or you can try stuff out and see what works. But wait, what happens if we screw up and make the wrong decision? It\u2019s ok. This isn\u2019t open heart surgery. This is software. Wrong decisions are temporary and usually much less expensive than making none at all.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/xkcd.com\/1205\/\">Image based on XKCD<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/books\/starting-up\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"small\" src=\"https:\/\/intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Intercom-on-Starting-Up.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most expensive parts of running a startup isn&#8217;t the new feature you shipped that nobody used or the marketing experiment you ran that failed. It&#8217;s indecision. You might have have heard the story&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":14134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"category":[5],"tags":[115,215,151],"coauthors":[352],"class_list":["post-8864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-and-design","tag-company-culture","tag-productivity","tag-startups-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The hidden costs of indecision - The Intercom Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Indecision is the silent startup killer. If your startup is agonising over every decision, get in the rhythm of making fast calls and moving forward.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The hidden costs of indecision\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Indecision is the silent startup killer. If your startup is agonising over every decision, get in the rhythm of making fast calls and moving forward.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Intercom Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intercominc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-15T12:55:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-30T11:57:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1968\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"932\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Geoffrey Keating\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@geoffreykeating\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@intercom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Geoffrey Keating\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Geoffrey Keating\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/69f36f5ad619cee05fa31f8ff9a281bd\"},\"headline\":\"The hidden costs of indecision\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-15T12:55:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-30T11:57:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":420,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"company culture\",\"productivity\",\"startups\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Product &amp; Design\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/\",\"name\":\"The hidden costs of indecision - The Intercom Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-15T12:55:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-30T11:57:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"Indecision is the silent startup killer. If your startup is agonising over every decision, get in the rhythm of making fast calls and moving forward.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/action-vs-indecision\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg\",\"width\":1968,\"height\":932},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Intercom Blog\",\"description\":\"Articles and Podcasts on Customer Service, AI and Automation, Product, and more\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Intercom Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Intercom-logo-sq-black-trans.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Intercom-logo-sq-black-trans.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"The Intercom Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/intercominc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/intercom\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/intercom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/2491343\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ie\\\/intercom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCJG0MvLP03kyzzAkD-w98aQ\",\"https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Intercom_(company)\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/69f36f5ad619cee05fa31f8ff9a281bd\",\"name\":\"Geoffrey Keating\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b1d7ec9385f06a2711d42d5b39e5125a4abe96182689b5967f5d3ba79cc45de5?s=96&d=mm&r=pga20f76574d5376fd545831d9ce75de29\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b1d7ec9385f06a2711d42d5b39e5125a4abe96182689b5967f5d3ba79cc45de5?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b1d7ec9385f06a2711d42d5b39e5125a4abe96182689b5967f5d3ba79cc45de5?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Geoffrey Keating\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/geoffreykeating\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.intercom.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/geoffreykeating\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The hidden costs of indecision - The Intercom Blog","description":"Indecision is the silent startup killer. If your startup is agonising over every decision, get in the rhythm of making fast calls and moving forward.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The hidden costs of indecision","og_description":"Indecision is the silent startup killer. If your startup is agonising over every decision, get in the rhythm of making fast calls and moving forward.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/","og_site_name":"The Intercom Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intercominc","article_published_time":"2017-12-15T12:55:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-30T11:57:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1968,"height":932,"url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Geoffrey Keating","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@geoffreykeating","twitter_site":"@intercom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Geoffrey Keating","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/"},"author":{"name":"Geoffrey Keating","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/69f36f5ad619cee05fa31f8ff9a281bd"},"headline":"The hidden costs of indecision","datePublished":"2017-12-15T12:55:31+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-30T11:57:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/"},"wordCount":420,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg","keywords":["company culture","productivity","startups"],"articleSection":["Product &amp; Design"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/","name":"The hidden costs of indecision - The Intercom Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg","datePublished":"2017-12-15T12:55:31+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-30T11:57:06+00:00","description":"Indecision is the silent startup killer. If your startup is agonising over every decision, get in the rhythm of making fast calls and moving forward.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/action-vs-indecision\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg","width":1968,"height":932},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/","name":"The Intercom Blog","description":"Articles and Podcasts on Customer Service, AI and Automation, Product, and more","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Intercom Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Intercom-logo-sq-black-trans.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Intercom-logo-sq-black-trans.png","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"The Intercom Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intercominc","https:\/\/x.com\/intercom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/intercom\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/2491343","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ie\/intercom\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCJG0MvLP03kyzzAkD-w98aQ","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intercom_(company)"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/69f36f5ad619cee05fa31f8ff9a281bd","name":"Geoffrey Keating","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b1d7ec9385f06a2711d42d5b39e5125a4abe96182689b5967f5d3ba79cc45de5?s=96&d=mm&r=pga20f76574d5376fd545831d9ce75de29","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b1d7ec9385f06a2711d42d5b39e5125a4abe96182689b5967f5d3ba79cc45de5?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b1d7ec9385f06a2711d42d5b39e5125a4abe96182689b5967f5d3ba79cc45de5?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Geoffrey Keating"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/geoffreykeating"],"url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/author\/geoffreykeating\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Action_vs_Indecision.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=8864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8864"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}