Inertia at work

[jmc_bks]

Inertia at work. I mean that literally and figuratively. In the past couple of weeks, several exchanges have highlighted to me how ingrained inertia is in some people and in their behavior...and how that in turn influences the function of the office and subsequently the division in which I work. People seem to be afraid of making any decision that doesn't have a clear yes/no right/wrong answer. I'm of the school of thought that you gather all the information you can, analyze it, and make an informed decision. And document. You might be wrong, but better to have taken action than to sit on the question/issue/project, frozen in indecision forever. Make a decision, move on. If you're wrong, fix it. Otherwise the piles of paper on your desk become mountainous and nothing gets done. Which explains a lot about my division, historically.

Even people who are getting paid significant amounts of money to be the decision-makers suffer from this malady. One of them told me today that he only dealt in black and white, he didn't want anything to do with grey areas, what should he do? My answer: I don't want to pay taxes, but I have no choice, it is a fact of life; you are getting paid to do this and the buck stops with you. He laughed but I think he was hoping for me to make the decision for him. Which I could do...but only if I'm going to get the three grade bump.

Unrelated note: The Closer is back on December 4th. Yay! I really like Chief Johnson...and Fritz :)