A (bad) experience with decision making

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#1

Hi there,

I just finished watching the “Analysis Paralyis” video, and I wanted to share, as Rick suggested, an personal experience with decision making. It is not related to my current project.

Once, when I was studying for my Master at engineering school, I had to chose a semester project. You could come up with your own, but since I did not have an idea for one, I looked at what projects were proposed. There was one project that seemed really interesting to me, which was about animations using blender. I wanted to take that project, but then I started thinking: “oh, but I don’t know how to use blender, and probably they want someone who does”, or “people might say this is not very serious for engineering studens”… and I ended up taking another project (about designing mathematical models) that I didn’t like so much.

Of course, it was not, and not only did I not like this project, but I also did not learn much from it. It was not the fault of the project itself (one person who I worked with on it, made some amazing stuff out of it), but it was just not for me.

So in this case, I let the fear of what (I thought) others might say, and my idea of what was expected from an engineer drive my decision. It was not a good idea, since eventually, I did not learn much, and also I did not bring the best of myself in the project that I ended up doing.

#2

Hi Ian,
Thanks for sharing your experience. In the end I think it’s important to have learned from such experience to be able to use it to reflect on if something similar comes up in the future. Have a great day!

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#3

Thanks for sharing your experience Ian - its great for us to learn from other people’s experiences.

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#4

Hey Ian,

Great post, we all can relate to being guided by fear. At least I know I have. I have quote from Teddy Roosevelt I put up in my office:

strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

I think of it whenever I find my self having to make a choice between action and doing what I want or inaction and giving up.

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#5

Thank you all for your messages! :slight_smile:

@Chris_Wozniczka Very beautiful quote, I didn’t know it! Thank you very much, I’ll come back to it whenever I am in a difficult situation!

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