As a farm leader, you know there are certain business and financial decisions that ultimately are up to you – because you’re the leader of the operation. Others may provide a good deal of input about the decision, but the final decision is yours.

That responsibility can lead to a number of feelings like uncertainty, anxiety or even fear. When the stakes of the decision are high and the decision itself involves many factors that are unknown or uncertain, that can make it tough territory to navigate.

Getting unstuck

Thinking you’re alone in decision-making often leads to something known as “analysis paralysis.” Farm leaders can get caught up in the sheer volume of information that’s out there when its time to make big decisions, such as marketing decisions, for example. They often find themselves drowning in information, yet still not sure what they should actually do.

When people don’t know what to do, what do they typically do? The answer is: nothing. They most commonly take no action. That’s the “paralysis” part of the problem.

The real question is: How can farm leaders make the business decisions they need to make for their operations, without getting stuck in the “paralysis” loop? Usually, the most important thing is simply to make sure you get the actual decision-making part of the process started.

Related:What does a good decision look like?

Starting points

Here are a few ideas to help farm leaders move from information and opinions toward a starting place for big decision-making.

Related:Farm’s next leader: Ready for marketing decisions?

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress.