Finding it harder and harder to make decisions lately? Decisions or the lack of them are responsible for the breaking or making of many a career.

With the craziness of the economy mixed with the bi-polar swings of board decisions, one finds it harder and harder to make a 'comfortable' decision.

So you procrastinate. You succumb to inertia and hope for the best. You deflect, you misdirect. But the decisions still hangs there . . . and it's starting to smell bad.

Some decisions are hard. Some are easy. Some are complex. And some are frustratingly simple.

But they all have an end-game . . . each decision hangs all on you. It's your responsibility and your head if things go south.

But here's the simple truth — in most cases — not making a decision is almost as bad (and sometimes worse) than making a decision.

So here's my 'easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy' technique to make decisions:

Take out a clean sheet of paper and pen.
List the decision. Keep it simple. Like: "Cut Costs or Reduce Staff".
Write down one major reason FOR each side of the decision.
- FOR: Cut Costs - get more frugal and focused on delivery.
- FOR: Reduce Staff - cut out cyphers/troublemakers. Simplify projects.
Write down one major reason AGAINST each side of the decision.
- AGAINST: Cut Costs - more complaining, excuses abound.
- AGAINST: Reduce Staff - everyone is scared; they shut down.
Score using Effort & Impact - how much effort will it take and what is the impact? Keep it simple use 1-3 stars as a scoring system.
The secret - during this process, you will begin to gravitate to a decision and also (hopefully) have the facts to back it up.

Granted, some of your decisions will be more complex and involve a lot more introspection, but I maintain one should always endeavor to keep most decisions simple and straightforward. Simplify!

What do you do to make tough decisions (when you can't ask anyone for input) easier?