 analysis paralysis or paralysis of analysis is an anti-pattern, the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. a decision can be treated as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change if a major problem arises. a person might be seeking the optimal or "perfect" solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results, when on the way to a better solution. the phrase describes a situation where the opportunity cost of decision analysis exceeds the benefits that could be gained by enacting some decision, or an informal or non-deterministic situation where the sheer quantity of analysis overwhelms the decision-making process itself, thus preventing a decision. the phrase applies to any situation where analysis may be applied to help make a decision and may be a dysfunctional element of organizational behavior. this is often phrased as paralysis by analysis, in contrast to extinct by instinct (making a fatal decision based on hasty judgment or a gut-reaction). ==history== the basic idea has been expressed through narrative a number of times. in one "aesop's fable" that is recorded even before aesop's time, the fox and the cat, the fox boasts of "hundreds of ways of escaping" while the cat has "only one". when they hear the hounds approaching, the cat scampers up a tree while "the fox in his confusion was caught up by the hounds". the fable ends with the moral, "better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon". a related concept is expressed by the centipede's dilemma and by the tale of buridan's ass. ==software development== in software development, analysis paralysis typically manifests itself through exceedingly long phases of project planning, requirements gathering, program design and data modeling, with little or no extra value created by those steps. when extended over too long a timeframe, such processes tend to emphasize the organizational (i.e., bureaucratic) aspect of the software project, while detracting from its functional (value-creating) portion. analysis paralysis often occurs due to the lack of experience on the part of business systems analysts, project managers or software developers, as well as a rigid and formal organizational culture. analysis paralysis is an example of an anti-pattern. agile software development methodologies explicitly seek to prevent analysis paralysis by promoting an iterative work cycle that emphasizes working products over product specifications but requires buy-in from the full project team. in some instances [[agile software develop
Analysis Anti-patterns Decision_theory