We all want customized
experiences and products -- but when faced with 700 options, consumers freeze
up.
With fascinating new
research, Sheena Iyengar demonstrates how businesses (and others) can improve
the experience of choosing.
Identify four of the
methodologies Sheena Iyengar suggests as methods of helping us improve our
experience in choosing.
The first thing that Sheena
discusses is cutting, her method behind the madness is simply, and less means
more. I must say I agree with her analysis, as too many choices can be just as
difficult or frustrating as too few. In my opinion it simply boils down to the
expediency of the economy of scales whereby, better attention to better
products without redundancy is the way to an increase in sales, better inventory
control and less capital expended to store and handle items that may or may not
be of consequence.
Her second technique of
choice overload is concentration. Again
too many choices too little time is spent upon examining the differences and
benefits of a limited selection.
Sheena’s third technique is
categorization. Simply stated that we as consumers are able to handle or grasp
the amount of categories better than we can handle or grasp a vast amount of
choices.
The fourth and final
technique discussed is the condition of complexity. According to Sheena, we as
humans possess the ability to actually handle more information than we give
ourselves credit for. We simply must be cognizant of our abilities, taking them
one step at a time, gradually increasing the amount of and size of complexities
we intake. Avoiding sensory overload, the wrong time or place from which we
increase our understanding of a condition or its complexity.
Discuss the implications of
two of these methods in terms of your own decision-making as an individual and
a member of an organization.
From my perspective I have
always subscribed to the first method that Sheena discussed… less means more. I
use as an example a book I am current reading by adventurist and survivalist,
Robert Young Pelton titled Come Back Alive, Survival Lessons from Dangerous
Places. In the book Pelton (2013,) discusses the same theory of less is more in
his analysis of the vast amount of survival books that are currently on the
market, and how they as Pelton explains “They instill pure terror by harping on
esoteric conditions that perhaps affect 40% of the population only 5% of the
time”. In other words they apply sensory overload and blithely ignore real
life. Again too many choices. I whole-heartedly agree with Pelton in his
analysis of true survival means knowing the risks, weighing the benefits, and
taking responsibility for your actions. His last statement is a lifelong motto
of mine and can apply into any and all situations.
Another technique that I
continually use in my work/life is the Condition of Complexity or as may be
commonly referred to as the KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) theory. Again we as
human are capable of absorbing a vast amount of data, knowledge and
information. We can quickly run into sensory overload if we are hit with too
much to fast or too often, differentiating amounts from too many angles or
topics requiring too many decisions in too little tome frame can and will lead
to mistakes. The trick as Sheena stated would be to categorize information
based upon complexity, severity criticality of time and to not attempt to
decipher all information at once. As an aviation incident investigator I
routinely compartmentalize items based upon their complexity, severity and criticality,
I also must be cognizant of how each are separate and yet inter-connected in
some fashion.
By keeping things in their
proper perspective, amount and complexity, I am able to improve my decision-making
skills in all situations including work/ life, emergency and survival necessities.
Reference:
Lyengar, S. (Performer)
(2011, November). Sheena Lyengar: How to make choosing easier. TED.
[Video podcast]. Retrieved from www.TED.com
Pelton,
R. (2013). Come back alive, survival lessons from dangerous places.
Guilford: The Globe Pequot Press. DOI: www.comebackalive.com
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