Fola Daniel Adelesi: Analysis Paralysis

I am currently feeling like a doctor or a researcher – about to present a new finding on some kind of diseases that the people have been struggling with. While it is truly a disease, the only difference is that it is not a medical condition but a mental condition, which may eventually translate to other things including a deteriorating medical condition. This disease is called analysis paralysis.

There are some people who can analyse, criticize, scrutinize, examine, evaluate, critically dissect, review, revise, recompose, juxtapose and do all the imaginable with a plan. But that’s what they know how to do best. You will hardly see a movement from paper to reality.

Before now I am sure you have heard of analysis and paralysis separately. So I believe you understand analysis and you know the meaning of paralysis However, have you ever thought there could be something called analysis paralysis? So you may have questions like what does it mean? Where did it come from? Who are the victims of this disease and what are the symptoms one can watch out for before you say someone has been infected?

Analysis paralysis is a condition where the infected persons will always give analysis of situations mostly in the negative way until their own analysis paralyzes them. In other words, when you present a proposition to them, they will start showing you why the proposition will not work and why it has already failed before it landed. Anything they themselves set out to do will always be analysed, and by the time they are done with their analysis, the brain cell that deals with optimism would have been shut down completely. Therefore, they are not able to achieve much or even achieve anything.

There are those who have the capacity to succeed, but by the time they give you the analysis of the whole situation, you will also want to be tempted to believe that nothing can work for them anymore. I have known some people who say they will do something but they never get it done. Why is it that they never get it done? They keep criticizing and analysing until there is no more time or resources to do anything.

These infected people are always looking for the ideal situations. You and I know that what is called ideal situation is an abnormal situation because it rarely exists. They are the people who always have very excellent ideas but they will not start because of the simplest things. A few of them will want to see the end from the beginning. If they are going into something and the end result is not guaranteed from the beginning, they will not get involved.

If you have reasons to deal with people like this, you are likely to be intimidated. When you go your separate ways and come back maybe months later or years later you will see that this person has not done much or may not have moved an inch while you have accomplished so much.

The point is that the person who has analysis paralysis never gets anything done even though he or she could have done so much. As they analyse and criticize, they weaken their own minds and consequently weaken themselves. Thats why they know so much and can talk a lot but they hardly ever achieve anything.

Now this does not mean you should not analyse what you are doing. I have not said you should not subject your works to criticism, but you have to know where to draw the line. There must be the feedback you are looking for so that you can improve what you are doing…not because you are looking for a perfect situation.

The perfect situation does not exist and will never exist. What you need to do is to start what has to be done and improve as you go on. While the analysis may be good, never let it paralyze you.

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