Making lists, writing goals, aims, outcomes, objectives; considering pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses; planning, problem-solving, making decisions.

Sound familiar?

Each of us, surely, at some time in our life, has been faced with needing to weigh up options, to consider risks, to try to better understand where we want to go next … to make a choice.

 

But can choice, or more precisely, too much choice, be unhelpful?

In 2000 Professors at Colombia and Stanford University set out to discover whether, when presented with many options . . . can we have too much of a good thing?  Can choice, in itself, be demotivating?  Can it affect performance?

In varying studies with making choices around jams (and not just any old jams, but Wilkin & Sons, Purveyors to Her Majesty the Queen, jams), chocolates and essay writing (they worked a lot with students), our professors concluded that:

• A vast array of options can at first seem highly appealing, but may ultimately reduce your motivation to take some action.
• People aren’t always motivated by extensive choice – and too much choice can negatively affect your intrinsic motivation, what you feel is the right thing to do, the from-the-heart instinct.
• And interestingly, performance can be enhanced when choice is made from a more limited choice set.

And just to prove it, back to the jams (OK, I’ve got some time on my hands at the moment) . . .

Our researchers showed that while having a wide choice of options might seem appealing (their testers were much more attracted to a tasting booth with 24 rather than 6 jams), it doesn’t always follow that we can easily make decisions on that wider range of choice – in the jam experiment, for example, shoppers were more likely to buy when offered a range of only 6 jams.

And in case you were wondering (are you just a little curious now?) for essay writing, students generally were more likely to write an essay to earn them extra end-of-term credit when they were presented with a choice of 6, rather than 30, essay titles, and in the chocolate study (some people have all the best jobs), they demonstrated that people reported enjoying the process of choosing a chocolate from a larger display choice (again, 30 rather than 6) but later regretted their choice and felt dissatisfied with it.

So, how many times have you been faced with too much choice?  And when thinking about your career, your future, your journey, how many times have you just thrown up those hands in the air and accepted defeat … I can’t decide, there’s too much choice!

If you’re finding yourself currently stuck in this situation, if having a plan, or thinking you have to follow someone else’s, is working against you at the moment, if all the options open to you are paralyzing rather than motivating you, consider this . . .

• Don’t let your talents become wasted
• Don’t make “no choice” your choice
• Get started – even if it’s on something small, one step at a time, even if you don’t feel like you’ve got much of a plan.

Success is sometimes about luck or opportunity, even fate (existentialists take note).

But often it’s about sheer persistence, courage, tenacity and determination.

And while we’re on the subject of choices, which of these:

Your strengths

Your derailers

Your passions

Your differences

might you harness to help you take that first step to making just one simple decision from the many choices you have available to you?

• Think bigger picture, not fine detail.

• Not got a plan?  Don’t worry!

• Sometimes, not having a plan is ok.

• You’ve got something much better. You’ve got choice.