In Sheena
Iyengar’s presentation for Ted Talks, she indicated that while the average
person makes upwards of 70 decisions in a day it is imperative to be “choosy
about choosing”. When faced with too many choices, people can become overloaded
and check out. Even with the most inconsequential choices, too many options can
create this overload. Iyengar ascertains that there are negative consequences
to having too many choices. Too many choices can delay the decision to be made
altogether, it can result in poor decisions rendered, and the choice made can
be less satisfying in the end. She offers four methods with which to assist
with alleviation of this problem.
1. Cut
2. Concretize
3. Categorize
4. Condition for Complexity
To cut down
on the choices and getting rid of extraneous options it will reduce cost, and
improve the choosing process. When concretizing, the consequences of each
choice must appear real…too many choices and this becomes difficult. Iyengar
states that individuals are able to handle more categories even if there are
less choices; this helps with identification and organization. Finally Iyengar
suggests that you must condition individuals for complexity, that gradually
making choices more difficult can ensure higher participation and follow
through, higher levels of engagement, and less burnout at the end stage of the
decision process.
Of these, I
feel the two I am more readily able to identify with; cut and condition. As an individual
I feel that to have too many choices creates confusion and frustration. I do
not want to have to select from 350 plus kinds of jam, it’s just too much. I
know when I make my grocery list that I want strawberry jam. I want to choose
from maybe 6 varieties. I don’t want 20 different brands all offering different
flavors on top of sugar free, low sugar, higher fiber, etc etc. I just wanted
the Smucker’s Strawberry Preserves! From an organizational standpoint I believe
that too many options can cause confusion and frustration as well. Working for
ERAU, I think that in an attempt to keep up with other Universities we have
begun offering too many degree programs, and Aeronautical University is very specialized
and unique and by offering too many choices we are confusing and frustrating
our students. The Graduate Programs offered are at a great number…let’s keep it
this way. The Undergraduate degrees however are beginning to get out of hand. There was just a handful when I began and one
in particular (the BS in Technical Management) has morphed into this monster
program with 6 different majors. This results
in many students selecting programs that are not suited for them, them being upset
about the lack of transfer credit received and lot of program swapping. I say
this tongue in cheek, however as I do want to get into course development and
without courses to develop I would not have this goal in mind. It’s a sort of
rock and hard place situation.
Conditioning
for complexity strikes me both in my personal decision making process and as a
member of an organization. As a student and an Academic Advisor, I do not think
that our courses are not built with this graduated idea. The first week of
every course is a bit overwhelming; there is simply too much information
imbedded within module one. I cannot even tell you how many frantic calls I got
from students in the add/drop deadline pleading with me to get them out of
their courses as there was just too much to do .This inundation in week one
sets the tone for the rest of the course to many students; too much scrolling
down a page scares them. When I began my Graduate program I did the same thing,
I nearly dropped my first course after having a look at week one. Of course now
I know that this is not always the case and by weeks two and three you have hit
a stride (like most MSLD courses are discussion post, reflection blog, concept
map, general assignment). It is with
this experience I am able to advise my students that it does often slow down
and become less overwhelming as you get your bearings and begin to chug along.
Too many
choices is not always a good thing…less really is more!
References:
Iyengar, S. (n.d.). Sheena Iyengar: How to make choosing easier |
Video on TED.com. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved January 21,
2013, from http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_choosing_what_to_choose.html
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