“Decision is the spark that ignites action. Until a decision is made nothing happens.” (Wilfred A. Peterson)

I love a decision. In fact, I love a decision so much, that for me a bad decision is better than no decision at all. The reason? Decisions mean action, and action means progress. Indecision means inaction, and that means stagnation. Even if the decision is wrong, and I head down the wrong path for a while, that is still better than stagnation. In that scenario, I am learning.

In the 1990s I took the Myers Briggs test, or MBTI. My results showed that I was an ESTJ. That means that I show Extraversion, Sensory, Thinking, Judging. If you do a study of the MBTI, you will find that an ESTJ is a person of action. We tend to be very decisive, and we tend to act on our decisions.

For me there are few things in life that are more frustrating than someone who cannot make a decision. Many have been the times that I have brought facts to managers, arming them with the data needed to make a decision, only to be sent back for more facts. Then I return with those facts, and the cycle repeats. When that happens, little is getting done to solve the issue at hand. Sure, the analysis is helpful to a point, but all too often we end up in a state of paralysis by analysis.

One legend of ESTJs is that, when faced with a train crossing a road, the ESTJ will pull out of line, double back, and look for a way around. All with full knowledge that sitting and waiting for the train to pass is most often the fastest, most efficient way through the crossing. I know this is true for me, because I have done it 100 times.

In my world, Peterson’s quote rings very true.  I completely believe that nothing happens until a decision, any decision is made.