Quotes About Options

More options, even good ones, can freeze us and make us retreat to the default plan

A 1993 study by Nutt, which analyzed 168 decisions in this laborious way, came to a stunning conclusion: Of the teams he studied, only 29% considered more than one alternative.† By way of comparison, 30% of the teens in the Fischhoff study considered more than one alternative.

In times of change, you may not know what options are available. And this uncertainty leads to decision paralysis as surely as a table with 24 jams.

This doesn't make sense. The doctors were acting as though having more medication options somehow made medication a worse bet than surgery. But if 47 percent of doctors thought medication A was preferable to surgery, the mere existence of a second medication shouldn't have tipped them toward surgery.

WHEN LIFE OFFERS US a "this or that" choice, we should have the gall to ask whether the right answer might be "both.

You encounter a choice. But narrow framing makes you miss options. • You analyze your options. But the confirmation bias leads you to gather self-serving information. • You make a choice. But short-term emotion will often tempt you to make the wrong one. • Then you live with it. But you'll often be overconfident about how the future will unfold.

This and that." Often, for example, we'll get stuck in a mindset of prevention OR promotion. If we can do both, seeking out options that minimize harm AND maximize opportunity, we are more likely to uncover our full spectrum of choices.

You cannot choose any of the current options you're considering. What else could you

What happened here is decision paralysis. More options, even good ones, can freeze us and make us retreat to the default plan, which in this case was a painful and invasive hip-replacement surgery. This behavior clearly is not rational, but it is human.

decision paralysis. More options, even good ones, can freeze us and make us retreat to the default plan

What if we started every decision by asking some simple questions: What are we giving up by making this choice? What else could we do with the same time and money?

Priestley, a brilliant man with an astonishing variety of talents, did not lack for career options. He was employed as a minister for a Dissenting church in Leeds, England. ("Dissenting" meant that it was not affiliated with the Church of England, the state-sanctioned religion.) But

You encounter a choice. But narrow framing makes you miss options.     ââ'¬Â¢ You analyze your options. But the confirmation bias leads you to gather self-serving information.     ââ'¬Â¢ You make a choice. But short-term emotion will often tempt you to make the wrong one.     ââ'¬Â¢ Then you live with it. But you'll often be overconfident about how the future will unfold.

To make better decisions, use the WRAP process: Widen Your Options. Reality-Test Your Assumptions. Attain Distance Before Deciding. Prepare to Be Wrong.

Ambiguity does, too. In times of change, you may not know what options are available. And this uncertainty leads to decision paralysis

One rule of thumb is to keep searching for options until you fall in love at least twice. If you've only identified one good candidate for a job, for instance, you'll have the strong urge to talk yourself into hiring her, which is a recipe for the confirmation bias.

To diagnose whether your colleagues have created real or sham options, poll them for their preferences. If there's disagreement, that's a great sign that you have real options. An easy consensus may be a red flag.

Widen Your Options. Reality-Test Your Assumptions. Attain Distance Before Deciding. Prepare to Be Wrong.

One rule of thumb is to keep searching for options until you fall in love at least twice. If you've only identified one good candidate for a job, for instance, you'll have the strong urge to talk yourself into hiring her, which is a recipe for the confirmation bias. You'll start to make excuses for the flaws you see: She asked us not to call her old boss for a reference, but that's probably okay, because the boss sounded like a real jerk …

The Paradox of Choice

LET'S SUM UP WHERE we are. If you think about a normal decision process, it usually proceeds in four steps: • You encounter a choice. • You analyze your options. • You make a choice. • Then you live with it. And what we've seen is that there is a villain that afflicts each of these stages: • You encounter a choice. But narrow framing makes you miss options.

We are entering an era of unprecedented choice. And thats a good thing.

Broadly, the Long Tail is about abundance. Abundant shelf space, abundant distribution, abundant choice.

Good choice. You have selected the SUV. Press one for a black SUV. Press two for powder blue. Press three for bright orange with the 'caution: bank robber on board' bumper sticker