How to avoid analysis paralysis

What is analysis paralysis?

People who have a tendency to make data driven decisions have a vulnerability. That vulnerability is analysis paralysis. All decisions have time constraints. Some decisions have more time constraints than others. Attention of the decision maker is scarce and this is one of the insights from the attention based view of the firm. The attention based view of the firm recognizes that the most scarce resource in a firm is the attention. This in some ways is an interesting intercourse with the resource based view of the firm. Root cause analysis is a method of actually defining a problem which is key to searching for a solution effectively.

More on root cause analysis

The five whys is one method of applying root cause analysis.

5 Whys is an iterative interrogative technique used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem.[1] The primary goal of the technique is to determine the root cause of a defect or problem by repeating the question "Why?" Each answer forms the basis of the next question. The "5" in the name derives from an anecdotal observation on the number of iterations needed to resolve the problem.

Not all problems have a single root cause. If one wishes to uncover multiple root causes, the method must be repeated asking a different sequence of questions each time.

Some methods of dealing with analysis paralysis I have used

• Trust the methodology. I realize that the process is what is important to solving a problem not the mood I'm in at the moment.
• Follow best practices. This allows me to set rules to make solving certain problems quicker. In essence I apply ready made recipes based on what has worked most times in the past. This does not always work.
• Set a time limit and accept that perfect will not exist because of that limit. While I do have the motivation to achieve perfection, I remind myself that perfection isn't ever going to be possible. I simply accept that I must do my best under the constraints. The constraints include stuff I can change or control and stuff I cannot change. I focus on what I can change and the limits are that which I cannot change or control. The time limit is due to the fact that I recognize what I cannot control, and so I seek the highest quality analysis under the constraints.
• Ask for help, sometimes others have an ability to analyze a piece of a problem to allow me to explore the solution space more thoroughly and quickly. The solution space is the possible solutions which haven't been thought of or tried, or which have been tried in the past, such as how lawyers look up cases to figure out precedents.

References

Mann, D. (2002). Analysis paralysis: When root cause analysis isn’t the way. The TRIZ Journal, 5.

Ocasio, W. (1997). Towards an attention-based view of the firm. Strategic management journal, 187-206.