Decision Paralysis

Decision Paralysis: How Better Leaders Stop Circling and Start Moving

Decision paralysis is when a leader or leadership team keeps revisiting a decision without making it, usually because they're waiting for more data, more consensus, or more certainty than the decision needs. Leaders break it by naming one owner, matching the process to the stakes, setting a deadline, and deciding with the information they have. In most cases, not deciding costs more than deciding imperfectly.

Key takeaways

• Treat "not deciding" as a decision, because it has costs too.

• Name one owner before you debate any option.

• Score a stuck decision against the same 10 readiness questions to find what's really missing.

• Set a decision date and a review date, so the call doesn't have to be perfect.

• Wait on purpose only when you can name the reason and the date.

What Is Decision Paralysis?

Decision paralysis is the pattern of circling a decision without committing to it. The topic comes back to every meeting, more research gets requested, and the answer stays "let's revisit next week."

It's different from careful deliberation. Deliberation has a goal, an owner, and an end date. Paralysis has none of those. It's also broader than analysis paralysis, which is getting stuck in the data. Leaders can get stuck on people, politics, and fear just as easily as on numbers.

In Dual Lens™ Leadership terms, decision paralysis usually means using the slow, careful corporate lens on a decision that only needed the fast entrepreneurial one. That's the idea behind Lisa Rehurek's talk "Make the Darn Decision: How Better Leaders Stop Circling and Start Moving."

How Common Is Decision Paralysis in Business?

Decision paralysis is common, and it's getting worse as leaders get more data. In a 2023 Oracle study of 14,250 employees and business leaders across 17 countries, 74% said the number of decisions they make every day has increased tenfold over the last three years. And 70% said they had given up on making a decision because the data was overwhelming (Oracle and Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, The Decision Dilemma).

The same study found that 85% of business leaders had experienced "decision distress," meaning they regretted, felt guilty about, or questioned a decision they made. And 72% said the sheer volume of data and their lack of trust in it had stopped them from making a decision at all.

That matters because decision quality and business results move together. Bain & Company's research on nearly 800 companies found a 95% correlation between companies that excel at making and executing key decisions and those with top-tier financial results (Bain & Company).

What Causes Leaders to Get Stuck?

Most stuck decisions trace back to one of six causes:

• Waiting for perfect information. More data feels safer, but past a certain point it only delays the same answer.

• No clear owner. When everyone is responsible for a decision, no one makes it.

• Chasing full consensus. Agreement is nice. Requiring it gives every person in the room a veto.

• Fear of being visibly wrong. Leaders who are judged harshly for mistakes learn to avoid decisions instead.

• Too many priorities at once. When everything is urgent, the hard decisions get pushed to "next week."

• Treating reversible decisions as permanent. A choice you could undo in a month gets the scrutiny of one you can never undo.

Lisa sees the same pattern with the leadership teams she works with. The biggest challenges aren't caused by a lack of talent or ideas. They're caused by competing priorities, slow decision-making, misalignment, and trouble turning strategy into execution.

What Are the Signs Your Team Is Circling?

Your team may be stuck if you:

• See the same item on the agenda for three or more meetings in a row.

• Hear "Let's get more data" without anyone saying what data would change the answer.

• Leave meetings without a named owner or a next step.

• Notice people working around the decision because they've stopped waiting for it.

• Find that the decision gets reopened after it was made.

• Watch a window close, such as a candidate taking another offer or a client moving on, while the team is still talking.

How Do You Know a Decision Is Ready to Make?

Answer these 10 questions for any decision that keeps coming back. Answer them with the decision owner and at least one person who will carry it out. Each question is written so that "yes" means you're closer to ready.

Ownership

1. Is there one named owner who makes the final call? Input can come from many people. The decision should come from one.

2. Does everyone know how the decision will be made? Clarify whether it's the owner's call, a team vote, or a recommendation for someone else to approve.

Information

3. Do we have about 70% of the information we'd want? That's Jeff Bezos's rule of thumb for most decisions. Waiting for 90% usually means waiting too long.

4. Would another week of research leave the answer the same? If yes, more research is delay, not diligence.

Options

5. Have we narrowed it to two or three real options? Ten options is a brainstorm. Two or three is a decision.

6. Do we know what we give up with each option? Every choice has a trade-off. Naming it makes the choice easier, not harder.

Stakes

7. Do we know whether this is a one-way or two-way door? Hard-to-reverse decisions deserve more care. Reversible ones deserve speed.

8. Have we named the cost of waiting? Missed revenue, a lost candidate, a stalled team, or a competitor moving first all count.

Commitment

9. Has everyone who needs to weigh in had a real chance to? People commit more easily when they've been heard, even if they don't get their way.

10. Will the people executing it commit, even if they'd have chosen differently? If not, address that now. A decision without commitment gets reopened later.

Want an outside perspective on a decision you've been circling? Business Advisory with Lisa is built for founders and leaders making real decisions about growth, direction, and what comes next.

How Do You Score a Stuck Decision?

A checklist only helps if it ends in action. Here's how to score one:

1. Score each question: 2 = yes, 1 = partly or unsure, 0 = no.

2. Add up the total, out of 20.

3. Apply one knockout rule: if there isn't one named owner (question 1), name the owner before you do anything else.

4. Act on your total:

   • 16 to 20 (Decide now): Make the call today, tell the people affected, and set a date to review how it's working.

   • 11 to 15 (Close the gap): Name the one or two missing pieces, assign each to a person, and set a decision date within a week.

   • 10 or below (Reset the decision): The decision is framed wrong. Redefine the question, the owner, or the options before you debate it again.

A lot of 1s means the team is unsure, not stuck. Find out what each person is unsure about. The answers are usually different, and that's the real problem.

What Does Breaking Decision Paralysis Look Like in Practice?

Here's a hypothetical example. The leadership team of a 40-person professional services firm has debated raising prices for six months. The topic is on every monthly leadership agenda, and it never gets decided. They score it together:

• Question 1, one owner (1): The CEO and COO each assume the other is driving it.

• Question 2, how it's decided (0): No one knows if this is the CEO's call or a team vote.

• Question 3, enough information (2): They have a year of margin data and competitor pricing.

• Question 4, research won't change it (2): Another analysis would show the same numbers.

• Question 5, narrowed options (1): The team is still debating three different increases.

• Question 6, trade-offs known (1): They've discussed the risk of losing clients, but not the cost of shrinking margins.

• Question 7, door type (0): They've treated it as permanent, but a price change for new clients only is easy to adjust.

• Question 8, cost of waiting (1): Margins are shrinking, but no one has put a number on it.

• Question 9, everyone heard (2): Every partner has shared a view, more than once.

• Question 10, commitment (2): The team agrees the firm needs to act.

The knockout rule applies first, so the CEO names herself the owner. The total is 12 out of 20, which means close the gap. The missing pieces are clear: decision rights, a narrowed option, and the realization that this is a two-way door.

The CEO decides on an 8% increase for new clients only, with a review after one quarter. Six months of discussion ends in two weeks. The team didn't need more data. It needed an owner, a smaller first step, and a date.

When Is Waiting the Right Call?

Waiting is the right call when you can name the reason and the date. Not every delay is paralysis. Hold off when:

• The decision is truly hard to reverse, and you're missing information you can get quickly.

• A legal, financial, or compliance review is required.

• Emotions are running high after a difficult event, and a short pause will lead to a clearer conversation.

• The people who must carry out the decision haven't been heard yet.

Waiting on purpose has an owner, a reason, and a date. Paralysis has none of them. If you're not sure which one you're in, the Dual Lens™ approach to when to slow down and when to speed up helps you match the process to the stakes.

What Fixes Make Decision Paralysis Worse?

When a decision stalls, the instinct is to add more. That usually backfires:

• More meetings. Without a decision date, another meeting is another round of the same conversation.

• More data. If no one can say what new data would change the answer, it won't.

• More people. Every new stakeholder adds a new set of concerns and a new reason to wait.

• More options. Expanding the list feels creative, but it makes the final choice harder.

The better move is usually less: fewer options, fewer decision-makers, and a firm date.

How Can Leadership Teams Stop Circling?

Leadership teams stop circling by agreeing on how they'll decide before they debate what to decide. A few habits make that stick:

• Decide how you'll decide. Name the owner and whether it's their call, a vote, or a recommendation, at the start.

• Put a decision date on the agenda. "Discuss pricing" invites circling. "Decide pricing by the 15th" doesn't.

• Separate discussion from decision. Use one meeting to hear every view and the next to make the call.

• Keep a decision log. Write down what was decided, by whom, and when it will be reviewed. It stops decisions from being quietly reopened.

• Disagree and commit. Once the call is made, people who disagreed still commit to making it work.

If your leadership team keeps circling the same decisions, an Executive Roundtable facilitated by Lisa can move the conversation from discussion to decisive action.

Make the Darn Decision

Pick the decision that's been on your list the longest and run the 10 questions this week. The goal isn't to decide faster for its own sake. It's to stop paying the hidden cost of waiting, in missed opportunities, frustrated teams, and momentum you'll have to rebuild.

Ready to stop circling and start moving?

• Book a Business Advisory session for strategic guidance on the decisions shaping your growth.

• Bring Lisa in for an Executive Roundtable to move your leadership team from discussion to action.

• Invite Lisa to a Fireside Chat on Make the Darn Decision for your team, event, or entrepreneurial community.

Not sure which fits? Book a free consultation.

FAQ: Decision Paralysis

What is decision paralysis?

Decision paralysis is the pattern of repeatedly revisiting a decision without making it. It usually comes from waiting for more data, more consensus, or more certainty than the decision needs.

What is the difference between decision paralysis and analysis paralysis?

Analysis paralysis is getting stuck in the data, researching and modeling without reaching a conclusion. Decision paralysis is broader. It also includes getting stuck because of unclear ownership, fear of being wrong, or the need for everyone to agree.

What causes decision paralysis in leaders?

The most common causes are waiting for perfect information, unclear ownership, chasing full consensus, fear of being visibly wrong, too many competing priorities, and treating reversible decisions as permanent.

How do you overcome decision paralysis?

Name one owner, narrow the choice to two or three options, put a cost on waiting, and set a decision date. Then make the call with the information you have and schedule a review to adjust if needed.

How much information do you need to make a decision?

For most business decisions, about 70% of the information you'd want is enough. If another week of research wouldn't change the answer, you're ready to decide. Decisions that are hard to reverse deserve more care.

Is it ever okay to delay a decision?

Yes, when the delay has a reason, an owner, and a date. Waiting for a required legal review or for information you can get quickly is deliberate. Waiting because no one wants to make the call is paralysis.

How can a business advisor help with decision paralysis?

An advisor brings an outside view to decisions you're too close to see clearly. Lisa's Business Advisory helps leaders cut through complexity, separate what deserves attention from what's only noise, and move forward with confidence and focus.

About the Author

Lisa Rehurek is the founder of Rehurek Business Advisory and leads The RFP Success® Company and RFP Success® Express. She brings more than 30 years of corporate leadership and 16 years of building, growing, and leading businesses, including helping grow a specialty practice within a national consulting firm from 35 to more than 250 employees. She has written 11 books, including Building Bold and The Martini Mindset series, and her RFP company is a two-time Inc. 5000 honoree (2023, 2024). She also serves in leadership roles with Enterprising Women, WBEC-West, and the Tempe Chamber of Commerce. Read Lisa's full bio.

Last updated: October 2026

Sources

• Oracle and Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, The Decision Dilemma (PR Newswire, 2023): 14,250 respondents in 17 countries; 74% say daily decisions increased tenfold in three years; 70% gave up on a decision because data was overwhelming; 85% of business leaders experienced decision distress; 72% say data volume and lack of trust stopped them from deciding

• Bain & Company: Score your organization to improve decision effectiveness: nearly 800 companies; 95% correlation between decision effectiveness and top-tier financial results

• Rehurek Business Advisory: Services, Business Advisory, and About: Make the Darn Decision topic, Lisa's view on slow decision-making and misalignment, service descriptions, career figures

• Amazon: Jeff Bezos 2016 Letter to Shareholders: 70% information rule of thumb and two-way doors