How To Truly Make A Decision

After my post last week on clearing mental clutter, I had more than a few discussions about how to make a decision and the maximizer/satisficer concept.

To refresh your memory, a maximizer wants to make the optimal choice. She is looking for the “best choice” for any given decision. A satisficer sets her criteria first and then chooses the first thing that comes into her awareness that meets the criteria.

If a satisficer goes to the mall in search of a strapless, floor-length red dress and finds it at the first store, her shopping trip is over. If that happens to a maximizer, she is putting the dress on hold at the counter and then going to every other dress store in the mall to make sure that she is choosing the best one.   

Often our search for the “best” whatever takes much longer than we intend.  Yet, we perform the “best of” inquiry anyway because we don’t want to get burned. We’ve all spent our hard earn money on products or services that do not perform as advertised. It is truly f…