- Make your own choices,
- More options leads to better choices, and
- Never say no to choice.
I think Sheena Iyengar’s speech was great. She truly opened my eyes to the availability of choice in American culture as well as having the option of such choices. I agree with Sheena when she states that American’s beliefs of choice are based upon assumptions that don’t always hold true to many countries and cultures, or even at America’s borders sometimes. Sheena’s first assumption, “if a choice affects you, then you should be the one to make it,” holds very true to the way I view choice as an adult. In this scenario I guess I tend to view choice as something important for an individual to possess if they will the one receiving the results of this choice.
For example, when I was in junior high, I wanted to choose which school I should attend. While my parents had somewhat of a say in what choice I was making as we narrowed down which high schools were acceptable to go to, at the end of the day, the choice was mine and mine alone. Once I made my choice for high school, college was my next step, and this was another choice I felt was mine to make as I felt I wanted to be in control of my future and the career I would later decide to pursue. While my parents had another level of opinion at this phase in my life, they also let me choose which direction I felt I should go. While I felt the choices I was making at the time were the best for me and having the luxury of being able to make such decisions was liberating, the process of elimination in just choosing which high school or college to attend was an exhausting process.
Sheena’s second assumption, “the more choices you have, the more likely you are to make the best choice,” I disagree with. While this assumption holds true in American culture, it tends to drive me absolutely crazy sometimes. Sheena’s first example of Wal-Mart is a perfect example of the many choices that American’s have that are completely unnecessary at times. Just the other day, I went to Wal-Mart with my husband to buy laundry detergent. While we usually get the Original Gain brand in the largest size we can find, we found ourselves at a standstill this particular day. Wal-Mart had run out of the Original Gain, and what was worse did not have it in the size we needed. Boy did this open up a can of worms!
My husband and I looked at each other almost in disbelief. Our first question was, how can they be out of our brand? Then what seemed like a never ending round of questions followed. Should we get a smaller size? Should we get a different scent? Should we get a different brand? Do you want to try another Wal-Mart? After realizing it may be silly to leave all together and try another Wal-Mart, we started the scent test. Brand after brand we started to smell the different scents and see which one was most appealing.
While taking into consideration size and scent we also looked into price, and other things such as ingredients, that may cause allergic reactions. To make a long story short, after about 20 minutes of back and forth, and finally not being able to distinguish smell anymore. We decided to stick with our Gain brand, but had chosen a “new and improved” Aloha Hawaii scent. It’s at times like these I can completely agree with Bohdan from Kiev who said “It is too much, we do not need everything that is there.” While the option of choice can be great at times, I do find that many choices are between things that are not that much different. Therefore I feel as though the value of choice then becomes unnecessary, as choice should really reflect options which show true distinction, difference and relevance.
Sheena’s third assumption of “you should never say no to choice” completely opened my eyes to the idea of having to make a choice, I would never want to be left to make. While the topic of her story at hand was heart wrenching, it was all too real for me. Sheena’s story is something that happens every day in our society and in others. However, the option of choice in this scenario is critical to the individual who will be making such a final decision.
Is Sheena right? In a scenario such as this one, would I decide that I still would want to be the one to make a choice such as this, all because if I were to give up the option of making this choice I would be giving up everything I was taught and everything I had come to believe about the power and purpose of choice. When I asked myself this honest question, and provided myself with an honest answer, it was yes. I would want to be the one to make this choice no matter the consequences on my own well being, because I feel it would be my place and responsibility to make a decision on my child’s behalf, rather than someone who had no connection with my child at all.
As I thought about this, I realized that choice wasn’t just about your options at hand, but truly about leadership in theory. As a leader in my family, I will constantly be called upon to make choices, some simple, while others may be very difficult. As a leader, would I be able to evaluate my options at hand and provide a decision, a choice, which would be best for the overall “organization?” Am I able to zoom in as well as out and grasp the overall picture of what it is that is truly needed or best in certain scenarios? Would I be able to make a choice that I know I will have to live with for the rest of my life? The answer is I don’t know.
While choices in a work setting seem difficult at times, I can say that I feel more confident in myself to make decisions in one setting but not the other. As I do not hold such an emotional connection to work, I feel as though I can separate business from pleasure and make choices that may be considered difficult, however if I were to ever be in a predicament as Susan and Daniel Mitchell, I can promise you, that a totally different woman would be standing before you and I couldn’t promise that the decisions I would be making were based more on emotion than logic. While choice can be a great thing, Sheena has opened my eyes to understanding that choice isn’t and sometimes maybe shouldn’t be for everyone.
References
Sheena Iyengar on the art of choosing; TED Global 2010
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