Decision-making is for the birds!
I'm the most indecisive person I know. That's why the "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions" episode TED Radio Hour podcast appealed so strongly to me. If I may get a little hokey, I've always blamed this character trait on my zodiac sign: Libra. You see, Libras are known for liking balance- for being able to see both sides of an argument, and therefore not being particularly good at making decisions.
We hear first from Sheena Iyengar, the self-proclaimed "World's Expert on Choice." She breaks down why choice matters to people and explains the Choice Overload Problem by explaining an experiment done with jam. As soon as she began to talk about the choices in grocery stores, I immediately thought of Aldi. I recently started shopping there (just in time for them to close for renovations), and I think part of the appeal is the limited options. There is pretty much only one brand of most items available, so you either buy it or you don't. Pretty simple decision to make. When shopping at Publix instead, you have a much higher number of decisions to make- brand, price, variety, flavor, etc. Iyengar goes on to mention that Aldi is the ninth biggest retailer in the world, offering only 1400 products vs. 45,000 at the average grocer. This article from Business Insider claims Aldi's popularity is still growing, and the store is on track to be the third-largest grocery chain in just three short years.
Iyengar is the author of the book The Art of Choosing, a book that (unbeknownst to me) already appears on my GoodReads "Want to Read" list.
Next, Guy Roz speaks to Ruth Chang, famous for her 5 (confusing) steps to making hard choices. Chang challenges the idea that "the source of agony [over hard choices] is lack of information." Instead, she claims that the power is in asking yourself what the best option is for yourself. This seems like a cop-out answer to me. If decisions are hard, just make one? That's great advice. Thanks, Ruth.
Lastly, we hear from Dan Ariely about Choice Architecture. He explains that "decisions we make are a function of the environment we are in." Ariely gives the example of percentages of citizens participating in organ donation in various countries. He reveals that the primary difference between high and low percentages of participation is the wording on the form at the DMV. The countries with the lowest percentage of participation required citizens to check a box in order to opt-in. The countries with the highest percentage required citizens to check to opt-out. He argues that decision-making is often based on the path of least resistance. In many cases, (and Ariely gives other examples), people will opt for whatever result will require the least from them in the current moment.
All in all, this episode didn't quite go where I expected. I don't feel that I really learned anything about how to be better at decision making, although I did enjoy hearing about Ariely's research. But hey, at least I made the choice to listen to this entire podcast episode, rather than listening to five different options before deciding which one to blog about!
We hear first from Sheena Iyengar, the self-proclaimed "World's Expert on Choice." She breaks down why choice matters to people and explains the Choice Overload Problem by explaining an experiment done with jam. As soon as she began to talk about the choices in grocery stores, I immediately thought of Aldi. I recently started shopping there (just in time for them to close for renovations), and I think part of the appeal is the limited options. There is pretty much only one brand of most items available, so you either buy it or you don't. Pretty simple decision to make. When shopping at Publix instead, you have a much higher number of decisions to make- brand, price, variety, flavor, etc. Iyengar goes on to mention that Aldi is the ninth biggest retailer in the world, offering only 1400 products vs. 45,000 at the average grocer. This article from Business Insider claims Aldi's popularity is still growing, and the store is on track to be the third-largest grocery chain in just three short years.
Iyengar is the author of the book The Art of Choosing, a book that (unbeknownst to me) already appears on my GoodReads "Want to Read" list.
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Next, Guy Roz speaks to Ruth Chang, famous for her 5 (confusing) steps to making hard choices. Chang challenges the idea that "the source of agony [over hard choices] is lack of information." Instead, she claims that the power is in asking yourself what the best option is for yourself. This seems like a cop-out answer to me. If decisions are hard, just make one? That's great advice. Thanks, Ruth.
Lastly, we hear from Dan Ariely about Choice Architecture. He explains that "decisions we make are a function of the environment we are in." Ariely gives the example of percentages of citizens participating in organ donation in various countries. He reveals that the primary difference between high and low percentages of participation is the wording on the form at the DMV. The countries with the lowest percentage of participation required citizens to check a box in order to opt-in. The countries with the highest percentage required citizens to check to opt-out. He argues that decision-making is often based on the path of least resistance. In many cases, (and Ariely gives other examples), people will opt for whatever result will require the least from them in the current moment.
All in all, this episode didn't quite go where I expected. I don't feel that I really learned anything about how to be better at decision making, although I did enjoy hearing about Ariely's research. But hey, at least I made the choice to listen to this entire podcast episode, rather than listening to five different options before deciding which one to blog about!
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