Competitive or perfectionist - which one are you?

H.L. Mencken defined wealth as "any income that is at least $100 more a year than the income of one's wife's sister's husband." (1949)

We call that positional concerns.  

From an anthropological standpoint survival depends upon belonging to the tribe.  Ideally we have enough in common with the tribe to accepted as a member, but bring enough value-added that we are prized within the tribe. 

And since status is relative, people compete to be seen as the most valuable players.  Sometimes they want to be the richest, other times they want to brag about the colleges their kids attend.  Whatever they think will give them an edge.

Myers-Briggs tells us that ~60% of us value relationships over task - so the majority of us probably compete for elevated status within the tribe.

Perfectionists on the other hand march to a different drummer.  If all you care about is being perfect then you don't care about your performance relative to others.  You just want to be perfect.

So while most people would be content with a 98 out of 100 on a test, as long as it was the best grade given, perfectionists will focus on those other two points regardless.

Knowing which type of person you are dealing with is the key to motivating them.  So, which one are you?

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._L._Mencken

Which decision-making short cut is your favorite?

Making decisions is exhausting.  And research has shown that when we have to make too many decisions we become tired.  As a result we tend to make poorer decisions as the day goes on.  It's called decision-making fatigue and it's the reason why you should make all of your most important decisions earlier in the day.  (Tierney, 2011)

But since we can't always choose when we make a decision we sometimes have to make them when we are tired.  So what do we do then?  We look for a shortcut of course.

There are several to choose from. 

A common one is to settle for a recommended option.  This is why after you buy that expensive iPhone you say yes when they ask if you want to buy insurance, even though buying insurance is usually not the best decision.

Another shortcut is to simply make a snap decision on impulse.  This is why you end up reaching for a candy bar when you are stressed.  Your brain shuts off long-term goals and fires up short term gratification, and you react accordingly.

Since most decisions are complex and involve multiple variables sometimes we try to make it easier on ourselves by just considering one dimension.  This happens often with voting.  We become one issue voters and pick candidates based on where they stand on that one issue and ignore any other positions they take - even if we don't agree with them.

Similarly we can let someone else decide for us.  When we do that we are assuming of course that the person we let decide is an authority on the matter at hand.  But sometimes we misjudge.

Which leads to the final shortcut - doing nothing.

Yes, sometimes we choose to do nothing.  But even that is doing something since you are choosing to maintain the status quo in the face of changing circumstances.

Which brings us back to the original question - which decision-making shortcut is your favorite?  And is using it helping you to make good decisions or bad ones?

Tierney, J. (2011, August 17)  Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?  nytimes.com.  Retrieved March 20, 2019, from

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html?_r=0

Voice is the new Black.

In case you haven't heard, podcasts are surging.  According to a new survey from Edison Research and Triton Digital, as of Jan/Feb 2019, more than half of Americans have listened to a podcast.  And one out of three Americans listens to a podcast every month. Wow. (Peiser, 2019)

Then there's the smart speaker revolution.  Approximately 90 million Americans currently have smart speakers.

But it's how people are using their smart speakers that matters most.  They are using them to ask questions. 

Based on a recent study by Voicebot, questions about music are number one at 55%.  But 36% ask questions about news, 35% about movies, 28% for how-to-instructions, 25% about products and 23% for restaurants. (Martin, 2019)

What the article about the survey didn't say was how many of those questions were about letting Alexa/Siri make decisions for them as opposed to just seeking information.  When I surveyed my students about the issue last fall (not a significant sample) I found that many were quite willing to cede what they considered unimportant choices - like toiletries - to another entity.  While others even admitted that given how hard it is to make a decision they would happily pass it along to an "expert," which is of course a classic short-cut for decision fatigue.  You can read some of their thoughts here...

http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2018/11/are-you-letting-alexa-make-buying.html

Net, net in the not so distant future, brands who do not have a voice presence will lose out to those that do.  It is only a matter of time.

Peiser, J. (2019, March 6) Podcast Growth is Popping in the U.S., Survey Shows.  nytimes.com.  Retrieved March 13, 2019, from

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/business/media/podcast-growth.html

Martin, C. (2019, March 11)  Consumers Tap Smart Speakers For Questions About Music.  mediapost.com  Retrieved March 13, 2019, from

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/333048/consumers-tap-smart-speakers-for-questions-about-m.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=113143&hashid=ybq2buULrntyGS6NfbELk0afrrI