Interview with Barry Schwartz on The Paradox of Choice
Came across an interview with Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice.
Excerpt from the interview:
Tags: noneQ - What can customers do to avoid the paradox of choice?
Most importantly, learn that “good enough is good enough.” It’s what I call “satisficing” in the book. You don’t need the best; probably never do. On rare occasions it’s worth struggling to find the best. But generally it makes life simpler if you settle with “good enough.” You don’t have to make an exhaustive search - just until you find something that meets your standards, which could be high. But the only way to find the absolute best is to look at ALL the possibilities. And in that case you’ll either give up, or if you choose one, you’ll be nagged by the possibility that you may have found something better. We have evidence about this, by the way. People who are out to find the very best job (”maximizers”) feel worse than people who settle for good enough. We’ve tracked them through and after college. Maximizers did better financially - they found starting salaries that paid $7,000 more than satisficers’ starting salary. But by every other measure - depression, stress, anxiety, satisfaction with their job - maximizers felt worse.
Lesson number two, learn when to choose. Sometimes don’t choose at all. Buy what your friend says, or Consumer Reports, or the Uncle Mark guide, telling you what to buy. It would be nice if everyone had a friend like Uncle Mark. You don’t have to take their advice about everything - just some things, so you don’t have to choose all the time.
Lesson number three, compare what you’re doing to what other people are doing less. Some people, no matter how good their outcome is, compare themselves with people who did better. Don’t do this. Instead, get in the habit of noticing about what you’re grateful for in your decisions, instead of what you’re disappointed with. It’s almost a truism, it’s so obvious, but it turns out that people don’t do it naturally. Most people just need to practice. In my book, I mention a simple exercise people can do every day: at the end of day, in a notepad kept by your bed, write down two or three things that you’re grateful for. Little things: a good newspaper article. Wonderful pasta for dinner. My wife looked especially attractive in her suit she wore to work. Over time, people find themselves identifying things to be grateful for more often, and they go through life happier, with more energy, with better social relationships. It doesn’t take a lot to transform people’s orientation, just by paying attention to what’s gone well that day. So as you make decisions, what is good about them will become more salient, and what’s disappointing will become less salient, and you’ll be more satisfied with the decisions you’ve made.
Lesson four, arbitrarily limit the number of options you’ll consider. If your friend won’t choose your digital camera for you, then promise yourself that you’ll go to only two websites and then stop your research and make a decision; or you’ll buy the best choice in one store. It’s just not worth it to look in every store, every website. With practice, people will stop being nagged with regret that if they’d looked in one more place they would’ve done better. Instead, it gives people more time for things that are really important, which is not which digital camera to buy.
