The Options Paradox

I don’t know about you but I find too many options inconvenient.

Having a choice is fine. It’s a great way to express who I am and to explore what I want. I love to choose the clothes I’m going to wear. I love to choose the words I’m going to use. Choices are – to a certain extent – empowering and an affirmation of freedom. I can do what I want. Nice.

Or not?

More and more often the idea of too many options gives me stress and makes me choose the default option. Well, choose. Let’s say I’d rather stick to the default option because it feels safer. The net result is that I’m pretty much happy, while at the same time I feel frustrated because I didn’t explore the possibilities these options offered and I might end up paying more for something I don’t enjoy or use completely.

For years now half of my mobile phones’ widgets remain unused, sometimes because I don’t read the manual, sometimes because I know I don’t need them, but most of all because I don’t like to screw things up and ‘disturb’ the phone. Aka: I don’t want to make a mess of it.

So I get to what I call the Options Paradox: at a certain point: offering more options only makes the default more appealing.

Another story. Last year I made my first trip to New York. One evening I wanted to order a wrap in a Mexican restaurent. So I looked at the menu and picked one. What followed was a very frustrating and confusing conversation. The guy behind the counter questioned me for every single ingredient which was supposed to be in the wrap I wanted to order. What kind of bread? How should the bread be backed? Meat? Sauce? Vegetables? I’m simplifying it a little since I can’t remember all the options anymore.

I was so surprised and overwhelmed by what I was asked that I just started nodding and ended up with a role that didn’t live up to what the menu had promised me.

And the worst thing was, it was my choice. Or that’s what was understood as such. If you have all the options and still fail to pick what you want, that’s too bad for you.

Ok I hear you, I may have been a little more assertive.

But it made me think. If options are there to allow us to a) make sure we get what we want b) let us explore and enjoy freedom and c) are supposed to make us feel better about ourselves, then could it be that

• giving too many options is just what you have to do to miss the point?
• if you want people to use the default option, do you have to give them way too many options?
• if you give a lot of options and want people to explore them completely you’d offer them gradually?
• the default choice is actually the default choice and the best choice as well for a reason other than what I’ve stipulated before?

These are questions I cannot answer yet but which I’d love to be able to answer any time soon.

If you know examples or are willing to share some thoughts about the Options Paradox, feel free to contact me @ superblyhuman-at-gmail-dot-com, or leave a comment here.

Free book: read to discontinue

Tell me how, according to you, life is going to change in 2009. The author of the most promising and inspiring comment receives a free copy of Mark Earl’s book on Herd marketing.

Be aware.

Your life is about to be discontinued.

Over at his Herd blog Mark Earls did an intriguing prediction about 2009: “this year is the one when everything is going to change”.

Easy to mock, hard to deny.

I admire Earls. Because he is so devoted to and passionate about human nature. Because he still manages to look at human life with awe.

When reading Earls you kind of know that what you know about life is that nothing is what it seems. And so is his prediction about 2009.

Further on in the post he clarifies his point:

“IMHO it’s not going to be a matter of evolving: we’re approaching a discontinuity, a singular moment, after which everything will be different.”

What will this singularity be? Maybe you know it.

So here’s my question to you:

If this year there would be one discontinuity in your life, what would it be? If there would be such a singular moment, what would happen?

Remember, from now on, everything is possible.

As a reward, I’ll send tThe author of the most promising and inspiring comment receives a copy of Mark Earls’ book on Herd marketing.

(Hint: go wild and stay true to yourself :-)).

By the way, thanks Mark for discontinuing my view on human behavior.

An idea takes 25 years to mature

I just came of the phone with my dad. Wise guy. Knows a lot because he has read a lot and done a lot of different things. Unfortunatly we often fail to understand each other. At times it was like we were speaking different languages. Or, it was like we had our ears everywhere but on the sides of our heads.

But now I’ve discovered we have a mutual interest in behavioral economics. His approach? Science and process management. Mine? Communication, advertising and (creativity) coaching. I can’t wait to work on something solid, a lecture, a paper, a book perhaps. We’ll see.

Anyway, halfway the conversation he says: “One thing I’ve learned from all my readings lately is that technological innovations change minds and societies instantly, while it takes 25 years for an idea to mature, to change our minds.”

It puzzled me and I want to give it some more thoughts before I comment on it. But what’s your opinion?