MSLD632 - Module 2 - Make Choosing Easier - Madeline Campbell


Sheena Iynegar’s discussion on decision making, selections and the various options we are faced with every day was extremely eye-opening. I am often faced with multiple decision within my personal and professional life, and I do notice the “freeze up” I encounter with the various options. Sheena reviewed four methods of helping individuals improve our experience in making decisions. Sheena stated at the end of her lecture that, “the key to get getting the most from your choice is to be choosy about choosing” (2011). From her four suggested points, this seems to be an art to acquire. Her four methods are listed below:  

1.    “Cut – less is more….get rid of those extraneous redundant options, there are increase of sales and lowering of cost for companies who do this.
2.    Second technique for the Choice overload problem, Concretization - in order for people to understand the differences between the choices, they have to be have to understand the consequence with each choice and they need to be felt in a vivid way. Credit card versus debit card
3.    Categorization – more categorizes fewer choices’- we can handle more categories than we can handle choices.
4.    Condition for Complexity – we can handle more info than we think we can. Increase the complexity, when a user selects default choice, it means we are losing you.

From an individual standpoint, I utilize method number one when shopping for personal uses. For example, when I buy a makeup product from Nordstrom (Prescott is very small and does not offer many stores, so I shop online), I narrow down the hundreds of options they offer by utilizing the third type of categorizing. I first do this for price, then color, then typically by brand. From there, I typically have  5-6 mascaras to review instead of hundreds. When I shop at Target, I am often overwhelmed with makeup and skincare options and I do not have the availability to easily categorize them like I do online, so I actively choose not to shop for those products in physical stores. Hoch states in his book, Wharton on Making Decisions (2001), that there are three information-driven decision support systems (DSS). For my two forms of personal decision-making Hoch’s third point of DSS would be the category I fall into, which, “…compensate for some of the inherent flaws in human information processing and thinking” (Hoch, 2001).

Within my organization, I select which hotels I am staying at each night for weeks on end, which rental car company to utilize, which flights to take, etc. I have thousands of options and starting my travel planning can be extremely overwhelming to say the least. To start, I cut the number of options offered. For example, instead of viewing all hotels offered in Moreno Valley or Carlsbad, I only look at Marriott’s that are offered in those areas. For my rental cars, I do not see which rental car has the lowest price, but rather I review then ones I have used in the past and make my decision off personal customer service experience. Again, I am narrowing (cutting) my options. After this step, I categorize my options. For my hotel, I review the different Marriott properties based off 1. Location and 2. Amenities. I prefer to stay in a location that is close to my morning meeting the next day, that offers coffee, a gym and preferably laundry services. Before honing this decision-making process, when I was new to this position at Embry-Riddle, I would google hotels in areas, car rental agencies and the such. Like Sheena discusses, one can often freeze with this overload of information and I often do freeze when faced with thousands of decisions to make, even though small and often minute. These databases are helpful for when making such decisions. However personal experience plays a role in my decision making process after staying at specific Marriott properties. As Hoch states, “The human visual system has long provided a tough standard for computers to beat” (2001).  Even through the data-cleaning options Marriot’s website offers, if I had a negative experience at a certain property, did not prefer the location, etc., this is where my personal visual system comes into play.

I do believe there are various different ways in which I can improve my ability to make decision and be a “stronger” decision maker. I would like to practice method four that Sheena discussed, how we are more complex and can handle more information than we think. I often find myself doubting decisions I am faced with, which can often lead to me not wanting to make decisions and asking for help, where there need not be a reason for me to ask for assistance. Through better decision making I hope to become a better employee and stronger leader.



References

Iyengar, S. (2011). How to make choosing easier. Retrieved October 23, 2019, from https://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_choosing_what_to_choose/up-next#t-942775.

Hoch, S. H., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. (2001). Wharton on Making Decisions. New York: Wiley.

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