How you know
You're waiting on an answer you haven't actually asked anybody for.
Something to say
“I'm stuck until one thing's decided. Here it is, and here's what I'll do with either answer.”
It's easier to spot this afterwards than at the time. Give it a week before you decide it isn't yours.
Two ways in
One is a habit. The other is one person.
Neither is the better one. Pick whichever matches the thing that is actually bothering you.
On your own
The habit, not the incident.
Most of the time the foundation isn't missing, it's undecided. And an undecided thing stays undecided until somebody makes it somebody's problem out loud.
- Name the one decision you're waiting on, and who can make it. One, not the list.
- Say what you'll do if nobody answers by a given day. Then do it.
- While you wait, build the part that doesn't depend on the answer. There's usually more of it than it feels like.
With somebody in mind
The same friction, one person.
The person who could settle this has no idea they're holding anything. An undecided thing isn't a refusal. It's just nobody's turn.
- Ask the one person who can answer it for a yes or a no, rather than opening a conversation about it.
- Give them both answers and what you'd build for each. Picking between two things you've already drawn is a much smaller favour than deciding.
One of these, not all of them. And in your own words, because ours won't sound like you.
Where this sharpens
It lands hardest with two of the five.
Not because anybody is difficult. These are just the two who reach for something different first, at the same moment.
Which one is yours
You are reading The Developer. Is that actually you?
Ten situations, about three minutes, no sign-up. It tells you which of the five you reach for first — and which version of this page is yours.
Five readings
This plays differently depending on what you reach for first.
Pick the one that sounds most like you. Reading a dimension is not a claim that you are one.