One of the the things so far I have appreciated in my job is I no longer hold authority without accountability. Instead, I am considered a “content expert”, providing information to others in objective ways, and let them make the decisions, for good, bad or indifference, leaving the accountability to whatever the fall out might be with the decision makers. It is a change in work style that many believed I would have a hard time transitioning to. However, they did not see that my previous position had eroded to the point where I was being stripped of the benefit of using sound objective information (and often being told to manipulated data to support a predisposed set of assumptions) in exchange for preferences and erroneous generalization of anecdotes as trends and facts. I had little to no authority to make objective decisions, yet still held all the accountability when the “bad” happened. I was charged with making someone elses skewed vision become a reality and if I pushed back, or my team was not successful, I was labeled difficult or accused of not providing leadership.
I noodle things over and over
in my head, but once facts, options, and all considerations are put before me, I
am able to make decisions quickly. The decisions I make now are what are the
important things that are useful in decision making, and quite frankly, there
is actually a lot of authority in that. Unfortunately, I am in a situation now
that we are stuck moving forward until the powers that be make a choice, and put
a green stamp on which plan they prefer. Time is ticking on our launch, and we
have already lost a significant week, having wanted at least two full weeks before Christmas break, to communicate to our external stakeholders. I get it. No
matter what decision is made, there will be a certain percent of unhappy people.
Objectively, one option is clearly, backed with data, the right option. The
right option also has the most current beneficiaries impacted negatively. However, it currently is an imbalanced and inequitably funded program,
with negative impact long term, and a model that is not sustainable. Yet, instead of just making the hard decisions, the most senior leader just does not want to "fight" with those that stand to lose any of their current funding. A meeting to decide has been scheduled and rescheduled three times, kicking the can down the road. The organization suffers from decision paralysis.
I keep adding to my 2017 list of things I'm going to do or things I'm going to stop doing. While I am good with decision making and execution on the job, home is another thing. I procrastinate. I dawdle. I over think things, and move in circular patterns, knowing what's needed, but not just making a decision. No more. I see from a work perspective, how inefficient and annoying it is to those waiting on the decision. I'm not advocating for being impulsive, but when something needs being done, say taking care of the wet basement issue so we have a usable house, I'm going to make a decision and execute the remediation based on options available. Take my sectional. Had we just gone out, shopped, researched options, we would have known to find something of the right style and fit was going to need to be custom ordered, and take over eight weeks. Had I ordered in July, money saved, styled already known, measurements taken, I'd be sitting on a comfy space in front of a fireplace typing this. Oh, and speaking of fireplace, we need a new insert, that too could have been dealt with before winter, while waiting for the couch to arrive. Guess who is now on a waiting list for the furnace company? In 2017, I will be kicking the can down the road no more.
I keep adding to my 2017 list of things I'm going to do or things I'm going to stop doing. While I am good with decision making and execution on the job, home is another thing. I procrastinate. I dawdle. I over think things, and move in circular patterns, knowing what's needed, but not just making a decision. No more. I see from a work perspective, how inefficient and annoying it is to those waiting on the decision. I'm not advocating for being impulsive, but when something needs being done, say taking care of the wet basement issue so we have a usable house, I'm going to make a decision and execute the remediation based on options available. Take my sectional. Had we just gone out, shopped, researched options, we would have known to find something of the right style and fit was going to need to be custom ordered, and take over eight weeks. Had I ordered in July, money saved, styled already known, measurements taken, I'd be sitting on a comfy space in front of a fireplace typing this. Oh, and speaking of fireplace, we need a new insert, that too could have been dealt with before winter, while waiting for the couch to arrive. Guess who is now on a waiting list for the furnace company? In 2017, I will be kicking the can down the road no more.
Good for you! I need to do the same thing. I have needed to redo my master bath for years. We are talking about selling and can't sell it as it is so I think 2017 is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI see other people plan, save, do. I think, save, plan, think some more....then do. We too will be in a bad sellers position 8 years from now.
DeleteI'm glad we finally bit the bullet and redid the master bath. Now we need to do the main bath(but not until Daughter and BF are gone)and the kitchen needs a fair amount of love(but nothing we can do given the space constraints will make it work better but some cosmetics will help). It's just going to take money of which I really don't want to part with just now as Hubs will be on short term disability well into Feb. bleh.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem even if we save the money, something comes up, that it is hard to then part with the funds for the original project. For us, it was my husband hitting a real lull in his commission salary after we had already committed to a few expensive expenses. I understand your concern now with a change in potential cash flow.
DeleteI think a lot of people at home have to overcome the objections of their significant other to spend money and get stuff done. Especially the ones whose other half always says they will do it and then procrastinate for 6 months or a year! I have become an advocate for spending money up front for preventative maintenance and repairs I can't do myself. I am done with delaying that stuff!
ReplyDeleteSo smart. Procrastination adds unnessary burden later.
Delete