The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz

Here’s the blurb on the back of my paperback copy:

Whether we’re buying a pair of jeans, selecting a long-distance carrier, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions -- from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs -- have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. We assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware if choice overload: it can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains why too much of a good thing had proven detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. Synthesizing current research in the social sciences, he makes the counterintuitive case that eliminated choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, he offers practical steps for how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on the important ones and ignore the rest, and, ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choice you do make.

It’s a good summary of the book I actually read. But, frankly, there is only one idea worth remembering. When it comes to making choices, regardless of how many options you are given, on balance, you will be more satisfied with your decisions if you focus on the goal of choosing something that is good enough, rather than something that is the absolute best.

The absolute best, you see, is a fool’s errand.

Imagine going shopping for a sweater. You go to a couple of department stores or boutiques, and after an hour or so, you find a sweater you like. The color is striking, the fit is flattering, and the wool feels soft against your skin. The sweater costs $89. You’re all set to take it to the salesperson when you think about the store down the street that has a reputation for low prices. You take the sweater back to its display table, hide it under a pile of other sweaters of a different size (so that no one will buy it out from under you), and leave to check out the other store.

“Maximizers,” as Schwartz calls people who adopt the goal of getting the absolute best, can never be truly satisfied -- because there is never any way for them to be sure that they got the absolute best. There may always be a better choice out there somewhere.

“Satisficers,” on the other hand, have a completely different set of rules.

To satisfice is to settle for something that is good enough and not worry about the possibility that there might be something better. A satisficer has criteria and standards. She searches until she finds an item that meets those standards, and at that point, she stops. As soon as she finds a sweater that meets her standard of fit, quality, and price in the very first store she enters, she buys it -- end of story. She is not concerned about better sweaters or better bargains just around the corner.

The satisficer is always satisfied, you see, while the maximizer never is. Which one would you rather be?

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This post first appeared on Eric Lanke's blog, an association executive and author. You can follow him on Twitter @ericlanke or contact him at eric.lanke@gmail.com.