Do Accountants Fear Decision-Making?

Source: Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by Rita Keller.

I find that decision-making inside CPA firms is often a gut-wrenching experience. I wonder if you find the following saga familiar:

A decision comes before the partner group. They discuss it, verbally explore options, and then decide to re-visit it at next month's partner meeting. Next month's meeting arrives and no one thought to put the topic on the agenda (but someone did remember to ask about it). So, it is decided that John will do a little more research and get back with the group the following month. The following month happens to be October, maybe even September. The group meets and decides that it is too close to busy season to possibly do anything about it and they defer it until next spring. In all too many cases, this cycle goes on for two or three years.

Accountants seem to be afraid of making the wrong decision, afraid of failure.

In recent years scientists have discovered that the rational brain can only take a few bits of information at any given moment. Too much information causes the brain to short-circuit and sputter. To eliminate sputtering when faced with decisions, just go with your gut. The emotional brain is much better at taking in lots of information, summarizing it and just going with a feeling.

Part of the challenge for accountants is probably the fact that they use their rational brain much more often than their emotional brain. Next time you need to make a decision in your firm, certainly do your research AND THEN go for it. Go with your gut! Don't be afraid of failure, it is a great teacher.

For the complete article, read “Decisions, Decisions.”

From Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders, the blog of Rita Keller, president of Keller Advisors, LLC, [email protected]. Visit www.ritakeller.com/blog/.