The Decision You're Avoiding IS the Decision

Dr. Greg Moody — April 17, 2026  |  You already decided. You just haven't acknowledged it.

You've got a decision sitting in the back of your mind right now.

You haven't called it that. You've called it "something I'll figure out after this quarter" or "I need more time on that one." The truth is simpler: you already made the decision. You decided not to decide — and that choice is costing you every single day.

The two versions of YES you're choosing between

Here's what most people get wrong about Both Sides of Yes.

They think the title means weighing both sides of a yes-or-no question. That's not it. It means there are always two versions of YES available to you — the yes you're saying right now through your inaction, and the yes you could be saying through action. Both are choices. The difference is whether you're making yours consciously or on autopilot.

You're not in a holding pattern. You're already moving.

Why omission bias makes inaction feel safe

In 1994, Jonathan Baron and Ilana Ritov at the University of Pennsylvania documented a pattern they called omission bias.¹ When given two options with identical outcomes, people consistently choose inaction — not because inaction is safer, but because it feels less like a choice and more like "waiting for clarity."

That feeling is the trap.

The employee you haven't let go is costing you more than the one you made a mistake hiring. The pricing you haven't updated is draining more than the increase that might make one customer hesitate. The conversation you haven't had is producing more damage than the one you're afraid to start.

You're not avoiding a decision. You're making one every day. The only question is whether you'll admit it.

The three things every frozen decision is protecting

Here's what cuts through the freeze faster than "what information am I missing?"

It's this: "What am I protecting?"

Your self-image. You're protecting the version of yourself that doesn't make visible mistakes. Every leader feels it. The leaders who move past it understand that being wrong in private forever is more expensive than being wrong in public once.

A relationship. You're telling yourself that holding back is considerate. Sometimes it is. Often it's avoidance wearing a thoughtful mask. The test: Is the relationship actually at risk, or are you using it as cover for a decision you don't want to own?

A fantasy. You're betting that this resolves on its own if you wait long enough. The risk almost never disappears. It compounds. And one day you wake up and realize the cost of waiting was higher than the cost of moving.

How to break the freeze this week

Write down the frozen decision in one sentence. "I need to decide ___________." Not a paragraph. One sentence.

Then write the real cost of delaying it another 30 days. Not abstractions. Actual numbers if you have them. Then ask yourself: What am I protecting? Name it. Out loud. Be specific.

Then the final one: What would I need to know to make this call by Friday?

Most of the time, you'll find you already know enough. You needed someone to point out that avoidance is a strategy — and it's not the one you'd choose consciously if you saw clearly what you were trading.