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Overthinking is a thought process that is overly complex resulting in wasted time, risk due to inaction and poor quality decisions. The following are common patterns of overthinking.AbstractionsGoing too far with abstractions that are detached from actionable realities.
ComplexityConsidering too many factors in a decision without filtering and weighing importance.AvoidanceUsing the decision making process as an excuse to avoid something you don't want to do.Cold LogicUsing logic for a decision that requires emotion.Intuition NeglectIgnoring something you already know.Premature DecisionsWasting time and resources thinking about a decision that doesn't need to be made yet.
Irrelevant DecisionsMaking decisions you don't need to make at all. For example, thinking about unlikely future scenarios.Creating ProblemsSeeing problems where they don't exist.Neglecting SpeedSituations where a fast mediocre decision is worth more than a slow optimized decision.Over OptimizationTweaking minor details while missing the big picture.Ambiguity AversionStalling on a decision due to missing information.
Lack of PrinciplesEstablishing basic principles to guide decisions and problem solving tends to make them more efficient.Paralysis by AnalysisAnalysis is a process of breaking things down to their component parts. It is a basic thought process that can be helpful but also risks making decisions needlessly complex.Big ThinkingCreating gigantic solutions to solve small problems.
Fear of FailureGoing too far to avoid a chance of failure.
Decision Making
This is the complete list of articles we have written about decision making.
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