How do you build a culture where people will discuss things but not get stuck in analysis paralysis?

Often team members in the workplace will get stuck because they’re afraid to make a bad decision.

They’re worried about the consequences they might face should their decision lead to a bad result.

It’s then the leadership’s responsibility to create the psychological safety so that their team won’t be afraid of making mistakes.

Otherwise, they won’t be able to grow together towards that shared goal.

My guests on this edition of Quick Hits have a range of experience and came at this question in a variety of unique, thought-provoking angles.

“The leader has to take responsibility,” says scientist and entrepreneur Dr. Mohan Ananda, “Otherwise people will start over analyzing because they want to postpone. They don’t want to make a firm commitment.”

Racquelle Pakutz, founder of Zen Freight Solutions, told us, “My team is very young. With that, they’re afraid to make mistakes because they know that it affects bigger things than just them. So, I always make a point to let them know they can make a mistake, but we learn from the mistake. We fix it and we move on, as long as we take that knowledge with us.”

Psychology professor and bereavement support specialist Dave Roberts added that “You gotta have a really nice mix of individuals who have attention to detail, who also realize that any decision we make is the right decision given the current circumstances. We have the option to gradually evaluate that decision and make incremental improvements.”

How do you make sure that enough discussion happens but not so much that no decision is ever made?

Connect with the panelists:

Racquelle Pakutz:   / racquelle-pakutz  

David Roberts:   / david-roberts-56690513  

Dr. Mohan Ananda:   / mohanananda  

Dr Robyn Odegaard:   / robynodegaard