• Home
  • About
  • Around
  • Contributors
  • Applause

Daily Plate of Crazy

  • Relationships
    • Dating
    • Love
    • Marriage
    • Divorce
    • Life After Divorce
  • Parenting
    • Advice
    • Babies and Kids
    • Tweens and Teens
    • College Kids
    • Single Moms
    • Older Moms
    • Dads
    • Family Dynamics
    • Money Matters
    • Work-Life
  • Health
  • Sex
  • Women’s Issues
  • Fashion & Style
    • Chaussures
    • Fashion
    • Style
    • Lingerie
    • Interiors
  • Culture
  • More
    • Art Art Art
    • Business
    • En Français
    • Entertainment
      • Mad Men
      • Mad Men Reviews
      • Real Housewives
      • Movies
      • Celebrities
      • Work of Art Reviews
    • Flash
    • Food & Recipes
    • Lifestyle
    • Morning Musing
    • Starting Over
    • Technology
    • Travel
    • Women and Money
You are here: Home / Business / Waiting to Decide? Just-In-Time Decision-Making

Waiting to Decide? Just-In-Time Decision-Making

April 27, 2016 by D. A. Wolf 2 Comments

Now? Later? Never? Are you waiting to make a pressing decision? What if the longer you wait, the more uneasy you feel? Worse — waiting too long becomes a non-decision decision, with concerning consequences of its own.

Decision Making_Who What When Where Why How_Daily Plate of CrazyWhether you’re waiting for input from others or your own light bulb moment, if the pieces aren’t falling into place, is just-in-time decision-making the best option?

Consider this observation:

If a decision does not make itself, I suspect that the timing isn’t right yet.

This is a remark offered by an astute reader as part of a conversation on relationships. It is decision-making advice I find useful to revisit, especially when timing appears to be critical to a venture’s success or failure.

Fear or Instinct?

And that venture?

It could be almost anything. Maybe it’s an investment. Maybe it’s starting your own business. Maybe it’s leaving a secure but unrewarding job. Maybe it’s a renovation, a relocation, a remarriage.

The stakes are high. The situation is complex. The impacts are potentially many, but the upside is a “win” that is very compelling.

Still, something is holding you back.

Is it reasonable caution, analysis paralysis, or outright fear? If an important decision doesn’t seem to make itself, if your ambivalence is winning the day, if your gut is telling you that you’re not ready — should you wait?

Is your internal GPS guiding you to choose the right path at the right time?

My understanding of just-in-time decision-making is this: executing significant decisions at the latest possible point in the process, and even in the midst of the process itself. Certainly, this makes sense in a business context — at times. Yet aren’t there occasions when the stakes are so high that it’s undeniably unwise? Is this always the case when talking about major life choices? Is “readiness” a matter of degree, itself a concept that is shifting and imprecise?

Jumping In, Stepping Out, Self-Limiting Self-Talk

Yours truly?

Before marriage and motherhood, when I wanted something, I jumped in with both feet. I wasn’t reckless, I did my homework first, but adventure came easily. I had a sense of my own capacity. Trying out a new country (for example) seemed like great fun, and even if it didn’t work out, I knew it would be an amazing experience. No doubt I was most cautious when it came to marriage.

And with that walk down the aisle and children, my priorities changed and likewise, decision-making. I was no longer making decisions alone, and all paths chosen impacted “the family.”

Fast forward to life after divorce and empty nest, and suddenly, all bets are off, and all doors and windows open — theoretically. Constraints pop up as well of course, and among them these:

  • There is comfort in familiar routines and surroundings
  • There is less “recovery time” in case of a mistake
  • Health considerations may require accommodation
  • Financial considerations are key
  • It’s easy to sabotage dreams with “I can’t” instead of “I can”

That self-limiting self-talk?

There’s a difference between being practical and self-defeating. The former is necessary; the latter is toxic.

When You Know the What, But the How Is Challenging

Visualizing your goal? Knowing what “success” looks like? Identifying the “what” even if you don’t know the how?

I’ve always been good at identifying what I wanted and why. In my professional life, I’m adept at the “how” as well, and I consider myself a collaborative and creative problem-solver. However, color me confused at this new post-parenting stage, as I struggle with the “where” as part of the “how,” even as I’m focused on a definite “what.”

I know what I want my life to be; getting there, however, is another story.

Decision Making_HowChange?

Once upon a time, I was good at change. But isn’t that typically the case when we’re young? Isn’t that true when we’re light on baggage?

Some of us remain fans of change even as the years pass. We may plunge in, oblivious to consequences, or leap, knowing safeguards are in place to cushion any fall.

Or, we find that easing, inching, stepping, striding, marching, or diving into change is a function of our propensity for risk — and whether we’re talking about investing, entrepreneurship, relocation, or remarriage, we each bring to the table our certainties, our insecurities, hope for a bit of luck, and… our contingency plans.

This brings me back to the issue of timing, the inherent complexities of how, and the specifics of when.

Is Timing Everything?

Whatever the context, for some people, the “what” is the challenge. Once the what is clarified, the elements of “how” can pose overwhelming challenges. “How” is about acquiring or utilizing knowledge, skills, and abilities while marshaling resources as well as resolve, stamina, and capacity — in all the ways that word can be interpreted.

“How” is addressable with organization and planning.

In a project or business context, with time and experience, we master the tools we need. We understand how to:

  • Position what we want as a “win” to key stakeholders
  • Encourage participation and foster ownership by teams
  • Negotiate and compromise where we must
  • Develop backup plans, and more backup plans
  • Make “agile” decisions in the heart of a business process itself

But on a personal level?

Accustomed though you are to decision-making with incomplete information on the job, it can be far much more frightening when it impacts your children, your home life, your sense of home. You may know the what, the why, the where… the “who” may be another person or it may well be about a better YOU — but the how, and especially the when, remains terribly daunting.

Age and Just-In-Time Decision-Making

Hello, Midlife?

With or without a crisis in the making, at a certain point we are aware of how precious our remaining time is. We want to fill our lives with meaning, purpose, love, love of life, aliveness.

When I consider just-in-time decision-making — the need to honor ambivalence until it dissipates — my thoughts on the matter shift when I factor in age.

At 55, don’t we look at time as a gift not to be squandered? Doesn’t waiting until “all the pieces fit” risk that we will waste opportunities out of fear?

Fear accompanies uncertainty. Confidence in our own judgment and abilities offers armament against that fear, diminishing the sense that we cannot manage whatever challenges lie ahead. Information helps; we may not have all that we might wish, but don’t we recognize when we have enough with which to make reasonable assumptions, create viable contingency plans, and make decisions to move us forward — or at least out of a rut?

If Not Now, When?

Decision Making_WhenBig decisions are always tough, even if the repercussions affect only ourselves — whether talking about taking a new career direction, leaving a long-term relationship behind, relocating to a new part of the country, entertaining the possibility that a new love relationship is just ahead.

My conclusion for myself is this: Not making a decision is a decision; not making a decision yet is a different, more active decision, if we are clear that this is what we are choosing. And, making a decision prematurely when your gut tells you you’re not ready isn’t smart.

Sometimes, someone else forces your hand. A boss, a lover, a spouse.

Events out of your control determine a new set of options — narrower in some ways, but potentially more expansive in others.

And in circling back to the notion of just-in-time decision-making, to the likelihood that it is a principle that relies on the underlying intelligence of the “gut,” a useful practice at times but not universally, we also know that when we wait too long to make a choice, our options change. This is as true of market opportunities as it is of personal ones.

And maybe, in pursuit of the prize — whatever it is — we ought not to back away from a hard decision, but rather, to face the fear.

And let the fear go.

And jump.

Possibly, just in time.

 

You May Also Enjoy

  • Plan A, Plan B, Plan C… Plan “Me?”
  • Other People’s Baggage
  • To Move or Not to Move; That Is (Not) the (Only) Question
  • All Puzzle Pieces in Place

 

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail

Filed Under: Business, Lifestyle Tagged With: Business, change, decision-making, empty nest, Marriage and Divorce, midlife, Relationships, relocation, starting over, starting over in a new place, starting over in a relationship, transitions, work life

Comments

  1. Missy Robinson says

    April 27, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    These are very complicated considerations. I especially relate to the the processes of decision-making that you describe:

    “Not making a decision is a decision; not making a decision yet is a different, more active decision, if we are clear that this is what we are choosing. And, making a decision prematurely when your gut tells you you’re not ready isn’t smart.”

    I’ve learned that I often regret decisions made before I am ready, even when my hand felt forced to decide. Now, I take that as a reason NOT to change. However, often my feelings aren’t the best indicator and I must look beyond the initial fear and challenge of change to the potential new status quo. Can I see how this would lead to what I want?

    At some point, faith must enter. Faith in myself, the guidance and direction of a higher entity, my support systems and ability to rebound. For me, it will never feel good or safe to move into change, so I have to do so even when it feels challenging. Then, I must stop the wondering, stop the weighing and “what if-ing” and simply work the decisions that have been made.

    Personally, I feel more capable of change now than in my younger years when I sought to control every outcome. Now I more readily accept what I can and cannot affect.

    Best wishes in your own decision-making!

    Reply
  2. Curtis says

    May 2, 2016 at 12:22 am

    I have to say I analyze things to death. Then I make a decision. What drives me crazy is factors I cannot control or predict. Fear? No trepidation. My biggest regrets in life are things I have not done. Maybe that colours my views.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Follow Us

FacebooktwitterrssinstagramFacebooktwitterrssinstagram

Search Daily Plate of Crazy

Subscribe for Your Daily Serving

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Categories

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Anonymous on Does Effort Matter If You Don’t Get Results?
  • D. A. Wolf on Mantras
  • D. A. Wolf on Over 50, Unemployed, Depressed and Powerless
  • Marty on When You Marry a Loner
  • Tina on Would You Brag About Your Age?
  • Sal on Over 50, Unemployed, Depressed and Powerless
  • Open More Doors If You Want More Skills - 3 Plus International on Open More Doors If You Want More Skills
  • Leonora C on Over 50, Unemployed, Depressed and Powerless
  • Maree on Mantras
  • kate on DON’T Call Me Dear!
  • Stephanie on Narcissism. Manipulation. Keeping Score.
  • S on When a Couple Wants Different Things

The Makeover Series

Daily Plate of Crazy: The Makeover Series

Essays From Guest Writers

Daily Plate of Crazy: Essay Series

Daily Reads

Daily Plate of Crazy Blogroll

Follow

Follow

Notices

All content on this site, DailyPlateOfCrazy.com, is copyrighted by D. A. Wolf unless copyright is otherwise attributed to guest writers. Do not use, borrow, repost or create derivative works without permission.

© D. A. Wolf 2009-2025. All Rights Reserved.

Parlez-vous francais?

Daily Plate of Crazy: En Français

© D. A. Wolf 2009-2025
All Rights Reserved

Daily Plate of Crazy ™

Privacy Notice

Popular This Month

  • 50 Years old and Starting Over
  • Best Places to Live When You're Over 50 and Reinventing
  • When the Person You Love Is Emotionally Unavailable
  • When a Couple Wants Different Things
  • How to Comfort Someone Who Is Stressed

Food for Thought

  • Why I Choose to Think Like a Man
  • When You Marry a Loner
  • Emotionally Needy Parents
  • Sex vs. Lovemaking: Why Are We So Confused?
  • Think Looks Don't Pay?
  • Rebranding Mediocrity: Why Good Enough Isn't Good Enough

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This site uses cookies for the best browsing experience. By continuing to use this site, you accept our Cookie Policy.
Cookie SettingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT