This is the manager who can't stick with a decision to save her life. You know, the one who has you change the graph 5 times before deciding…and then changes it back ten minutes before the big presentation.

Sometimes she can't even remember what decision she made, and she always expects you to nod your head and happily make the change, and to back her up in meetings when you're in shock over the about-face.

Your fantasy response:

Shake her and say "MAKE UP YOUR MIND!" (Ever see Airplane?)

Why:

• She feels like she doesn't have full information, so she keeps digging. Every new piece of information changes her viewpoint.
• She's made a few bad decisions in the past and been punished for them, and it makes her very nervous about making any decisions now.
• She can see many points of view and goes with whichever one seems best at any given moment.
• Her manager is on her case all the time about decisions.
• She might not even be aware that she changes her mind as often as she does, or that it upsets the natural order.
• She's just a very indecisive person. She probably hasn't painted her house in many years because she can't decide on a color. She drives a 12 year old car because there are too many choices for a new one. In other words, this is how she lives.
• She's not very smart, and/or she likes to make your life miserable.

Tips for Dealing:

• Try to articulate the goals for any decision. This will help keep her focused, and give you a baseline to which to retreat and start again.
• Let her know what any about-face is costing – in time, dollars, whatever it takes.
• When possible, record in a public place (email, wiki, etc.) any significant decisions and the reason for the decision.
• Beat her to the punch – if you know she's going to ask for a presentation three different ways, just do it that way to begin with. It's more work if she doesn't ask for the changes, but if she runs true to form you'll save yourself a lot of last-minute hassle.
• Speak up – when she backpedals, verbally confirm that the decision had been this, and is now is that, and note the reason.