Decisions Are Inventory, Not Trophies
A backlog of unmade decisions is the heaviest thing a team carries — and the leader is usually the one loading the shelf.
Open the agenda for your weekly staff meeting and look for the items that have been carried forward for two months. It might be a decision on a new donor intake form or a final call on fall pricing. Each week, it is discussed, delayed, and carried over. We tell ourselves we are waiting for more data or respecting the process, but the truth is that each undecided question in your organization is inventory. It takes up space, ages badly, and forces everyone to walk around it. We tend to view decisions as trophies to be earned, displayed, and admired, which is why we treat them as scarce and precious. But an unmade decision is not a trophy in waiting; it is stock rotting on a shelf, quietly taxing everyone who has to plan around its absence.