Pain, which can cause a lot of mental discomfort, generally arises from situations and questions for which we do not have answers.
Since any kind of pain consumes a lot of energy, we humans have found a way to conserve the energy associated with mental pain - by taking actions.
Taking action makes us believe that we have taken a step to solve the problem, which acts as a feedback loop to the brain and slowly the pain fades away.
Unfortunately, this behavior can help our mind to reduce the pain in the short term, but in the real world, the action does not guarantee anything. The thoughts triggering the pain will return, pain will return and the brain will decieve itself again.
Bias for action is one of the values in many companies. It encourages stakeholders to favor action over inaction, even in the case of uncertainty or less information. This might be beneficial for roles where your decisions and actions do not have long-term impacts.
But, this value is very dangerous for roles which have long term impacts on productivity of the org like Product, Engineering & Strategy or Investing. It is better for the pain to trouble you and consume more processing power and energy from your body if you are in these roles.
In the time of pain, it is better to step back and use various mental models before jumping to conclusions. It might take time to reach conclusions but it’s worth it, as it will help save overall productivity and money for the organization.
Once you find a solution, you should invest all the energy you have in executing the plan or idea on which you have concluded.
So, next time you hear about Bias for Action, also consider Bias for Inaction.