When my friends asked if I'd like to do the Yorkshire Peak Challenge, I went into a spin about whether or not I would physically be able to complete it.

Then, when discussing it with my family I found myself saying "I can't, I just don't have the time."

🛑Red flag!🚩This is what I say to myself as soon as I hear someone say this phrase, including myself!

Because it's often an excuse. A way of saying that we don't want to do something without saying the real reason.

I reflected and immediately knew this is what I was doing and why - I was scared.

Scared because I'd not done it before, because I was worried about injuring myself and because I felt in limbo without a tried and tested system to get me fit enough to guarantee success.

It all felt a bit hazy and unclear.

But luckily the fear also helped me to get in motion and act.

I sought advice from the experts - my doctor, my physio and my personal trainer friend.

They each said that with the right training, it was achievable.

So now it was up to me. No more excuses, decision time.

You know this story ended happily but I could have easily let the lack of clarity on how to tackle this challenge stop me from engaging with it at all and would have missed out on the resulting connection, learning and sense of achievement.

So how can we catch ourselves when this happens in the workplace and ensure we make the right decisions?

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

It's no surprise that decisions are hard to make.

When we look at the etymology of the word, it stems from the Latin, meaning to cut off or kill.

Deciding means we're choosing one thing at the expense of another.

We've all experienced FOMO (Fear of missing out) and decision paralysis, sometimes when overwhelmed by choice, or the weight of an important decision.

Research has even shown that we sometimes hope for something bad to happen, just to avoid making a decision!

That open loop of "what ifs" take up so much energy from worrying that we'll regret our choices.

So how can we make it easier?

The Need For Expertise & Discussion

In my example, I sought expert advice but I also had to have discussions with my family and the friends I was doing the challenge with as it had implications on them.

It meant making deliberate choices upfront like clearing my social calendar and planning early morning training sessions.

I needed a supportive family to collect me from dropped pins in the middle of random Norfolk fields!

And I needed to be open about my prior injury with my teammates, air my concerns so they could help me with my mindset and any physical setbacks that might arise in training or on the walk itself.

These honest, frank discussions led to me making the best decision and I believe this is what we're desperately needing more of in organisations.

But there's something else to take from this story - the importance of a trusted process for open discussion & connection.

The Importance of Process

Look around you and you'll find that if it's really important, it has a process.

Flying a plane, heart bypass surgery. Very important = process.

For some reason, when it comes to making decisions in the workplace, we can get lost in the minutiae, facts and figures and miss out digging into the more emotive heart of the matter.

The process I'm referring to here is a connection process.

A pathway to understanding, through a series of steps and questions, the unspoken emotions underpinning the decision-making process;

• Our individual & collective concerns
• Our hopes
• Whether we're all in this together when we hit bumps in the road.

This is hard to do when it's high stakes in a business as usual environment.

But at Art After Dark, we have a very effective process.

I've been working with organisations where we do an upfront creative team connection session, followed by group coaching and workshopping a specific challenge.

The time saved is staggering. No more procrastination or wheel-spinning.

Just clear decision-making from a freshly united team, focussed on a knotty challenge with newfound resolve to execute brilliantly!

If you have any knotty challenges that could do with a creative lens and a supportive decision-making process, I'd love to help.

Drawing🖼️

This week I sketched a horse because they're such perceptive animals, often picking up on subtle cues that we might not even be aware of ourselves.

They respond to the energy we project, making them excellent partners for emotional and psychological growth!

I'd really love your thoughts on this.