We can Talk About This Some More...

Decision making, it's the definition of white collar. We aren't necessarily the people who do the work, sometimes we are, but we are the people that make decisions. In the context of work those decisions are balancing, quality, price and service. I typically work on the quality vs price side of things, although service does come into the equation often enough. 

I read this on a blog maybe two years ago and ever since it has inspired me to make more decisions when I can. Frequently analysis paralysis happens when people don't want to make a decision with the information available, but look for more information. This can delay decision making for days, weeks, and on occasion months. Eventually things typically get escallated to the point where someone makes a decision. The funny thing being, the higher the problem goes, the fewer details the person often gets. I realized this in a recent meeting where someone threw up multiple road blocks, subtly suggesting a decision we had made was premature. After every question, we presented what had already been done, and near the end of the meeting he did not object to the decision we had made. 

Communication. Wowzers, I didn't realize how little time I would actually spend doing math, science and designing as an engineer. I feel like I go to meetings, talk to people, and more or less shepard parts through their testing and manufacturing cycles.