How To Make Choosing Easier
For years, when confronted with more than three options, or courses of action, I often found myself taking longer than usual to work out the decision-making process that would render a choice that I would typically not regret. I have become better at eliminating extraneous and irrelevant information, mentally organizing and weighing of the values between the remaining options, and have chosen based on experience, intuition and logic. However, the time it takes to make these decision, at work as well as home, depends not only the impact of the second, third, fourth, etc. order of effects, but also the number of options from which I start with.
When presented with an abundance of options from which to choose, heuristics will usually provide me a quick way to filter out what I would normally consider not an option, and quickly label those remaining in hopes of supporting a wise decision. With heuristics, pattern recognition and filtering based on experience may be skewed to the new problem set at hand. In attempt to adjust my heuristics in the future, I will work to practice cutting out the extraneous, redundant options, concretize the options in order to understand the consequences of choosing them, categorize remaining options in attempt to visually and mentally understand what I am choosing, and condition myself to deal with complex choices by working fewer, simple options first, then work to choosing more complex ones (Lyengar, 2011).
While working to modify heuristics with new experiences, patterns and information, it is important to understand that though heuristics serve a purpose, they may lack vital information, contributing to errors in decision making (Milkman, Chugh & Bazerman, 2010).
In my personal life, when presented with a large number of options from which to choose, my inclination is to cut out and eliminate all potential options that through some quick, but thoughtful analysis, do not apply, or are less valuable (Lyengar & Agrawal, 2010). For example, when choosing between different types of socks to purchase, I quickly look at and identify what I do not like to wear, so that they will not be part of my decision-making process when considering what to buy. With so many options from which to choose, it saves a great deal of time.
As part of a military unit, I look to fully understand a problem set in order to more clearly see what my options are. Once my options are identified, I evaluate what impacts come from each option, if chosen, and determine if the outcome resolves the issue based on experience and intuition. When an option proves to render a satisfying result above all others, a decision is made. In this sense, it appears I utilize concretization in order to vivtize my options and understand the consequences of each if chosen.
In conclusion, it is my intention to improve time-management for myself, so as to allow when possible, the time to apply the four principles; cut, organize, concretize, and condition, in order to develop a new, more deliberate decision-making process (Lyengar, 2011).
References
Lyengar, S (2011, November). Sheena lyengar: How to make choosing easier [TED Talks Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_choosing_what_to_choose#t-869622
Lyengar, S. & Agrwal, K. (2010, November 23). A better choosing experience. Retrieved from http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00046?gko=13ead
Milkman, K. L., Chugh, D. & Bazerman, M. H. (2008). How can decision making be improved? Retrieved from http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/08-102.pdf
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