Right now (and with everything that’s going on) on the surface, many leaders look as capable and confident as ever. But underneath, there’s a shift in the weight of decisions that need to be made - and not just the volume of them.
When there’s very little spare room to step back, to think, ponder and absorb, decisions don’t just keep coming - they start to feel ‘heavier’. They have to be prioritised. And it’s not because we don’t know what to do, but because things have to be decided more rapidly and against a backdrop of less certainty.
Image: Arnaud Weyts, unsplash
And, there are also fewer places and opportunities to test thinking and try things out and that carries a cost. Under sustained pressure, the quality of our decision-making can shift, which can be noticeable and it definitely has consequences. Ironically, when decisions need to be revisited, more time’s needed - not less and that adds more pressure.
If the quality of your decision-making doesn’t feel quite up to your usual standard right now, it’s not just you. I’m seeing this pattern time and time again - for example, when organisations make valid (at the time) and rapid hiring decisions, followed by restructures and redundancies, and then… they selectively rehire people, often bringing them back as contractors.
When decisions like these are made at speed, in uncertainty, leaders are rightly responding to an environment that’s moving fast. But the cost of revisiting decisions can be high on us all – emotionally, reputationally as well as with the amount of brain power it uses.
If decision fatigue or decision pressure is starting to feel harder to sustain for you or your team, let’s talk.