Nosich (2012) stated, “Whenever you reason through
something, you always have to begin somewhere. You can’t begin at the beginning
because there is not beginning. What you begin with are your assumptions” (p
52). In her TED talk, Sheena Iyengar (2010) spoke about 3 assumptions that she
believes Americans are guilty of when making choices. Those assumptions were:
(a) If the choice affects you then you should be the one to make it, (b) the
more choices you have the more likely you are to make the best choice, and (c)
you must never say no to a choice.
When I heard the first assumption my first thought was,
“Yeah, of course I want to make the choice for anything that would affect me. Who
wouldn’t?” I am not a big fan of change so an event as small as one of my
favorite TV shows getting cancelled makes me realize that my choice would be
for the show to stay on forever. It brings me pleasure, entertainment, and
matters to me so why wouldn’t I prefer it to continue. Of course there are many
other factors as to why a show would get cancelled that do not involve my
feelings. As I thought more about the option to make choices based on the
affect they have on you, I realized that some choices may affect more than just
you so maybe that is not the best option for a decision. For example, I usually
only make it back for a visit home once a year. While I am there my choice
would be to relax because it is my vacation. I believe this is what I should do
because it affects me and is my decision, but my actions can also affect my
family’s choices. They do not get to see me often so they would like me to
choose to make time for each of them while I am home. In this case, my choice
to relax and do what I would like to do is not always the right choice.
I do not agree with the second assumption that the more
choices there are the more likely you are to make a better choice. In fact, for
me the more choices there are the more difficult it is to make a choice.
Sometimes I may choose not to choose at all. There have been times when I am
home sick from work so I decide to watch a movie. I open up the entertainment
center and see the many selections we have to choose from. I will comb through
them for an extended period of time and not be able to pick out which of my
favorites to watch. This usually ends with me not picking a movie at all and
flipping through the hundreds of TV channels (once again way too many choices)
to try to find something to watch. I
recently had another experience involving too many choices.
We decided that we wanted to add a back patio to our home to
have a place to place a grill and place a table in order to take advantage of
our backyard. As I went to research a contractor, I realized that there were
numerous options. This was a surprise to me since our town is not very large. I
began to stress out about which company to choose to do the work. I called all
the companies for quotes, researched the reviews on the internet, and even
asked around to see if anyone I knew had a personal experience with any of the
companies. I eventually chose a company and am very happy with the finished
product, but this is an instance where I would have been okay with just one or
two options.
In regards to the third assumption that a person should
never say no to a choice, I both agree and disagree. In my opinion, this
assumption is based on the context of the choice. For example, when we
purchased our home several years ago all of the walls were white. After a
couple of years, we decided it was time to add some color to the walls. Not
having a very good eye for color, I deferred to my girlfriend’s choice. In this
instance I chose to say no to the choice.
She is the artistic one in the family and enjoys tasks like this. I knew
that she would do her research and pick out great colors for each room. She
made outstanding choices as we are both very pleased with how each room turned
out. But, if someone came into our home and said that we could no longer have
white walls and each wall must be painted maroon then I would definitely want
my right to make a choice. I am not 100% sure if this would be because my
freedom of choice would be taken from me or because I just really do not prefer
the color maroon. Whatever the reason, in that instance I would definitely not
say no to a choice.
I believe that choice in leadership is very important but
the choices must be looked at very carefully. Dr. Iyengar (2010) mentioned that
there can be an illusion in choice. After watching the video it is evident that
many choices are available but the assumption is made aware that most are made
for personal gain. This could be a mistake in leadership. Managers and leaders
need to make sure choices are made for the betterment of the organization or
they could harm the company by making the wrong choice for the wrong reasons.
On a personal note, I would be part of the 50% of people to
accuse Dr. Iyengar of playing a joke about the two colors being different. After
my girlfriend watched this video a couple of years ago, we were out shopping
one day and we went into a cosmetic store. She wanted to know if she could tell
the difference between ballet slippers and adorable. She swore she was able to
determine a difference in the two shades of pink. I stared at them for a while
but had no luck in determining the difference in the two colors.
References
Iyengar, S. (2010). The art of choosing [TEDGlobal].
Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing?language=en
Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: A
guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson
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