Episode 027: Too Many Choices with Dr. Sheena Iyengar
Sep 27, 2023
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Join Dr. Sheena Iyengar, an expert on choice, as she explores choice overload, decision-making challenges, reducing gender bias, and the influence of cultural backgrounds. Discover her innovative six-step process for fostering innovation and the surprising truth about brainstorming. Additionally, learn about disruptive technology in making ice cream and how a team solved the ventilator shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Explore the importance of decision education for children in today's information-filled world.
Having too many choices can lead to decision overload and result in procrastination and difficulties in decision-making.
Our cultural backgrounds significantly influence our approach to decision-making.
Fostering innovation involves actively shaping the options we desire rather than waiting for the perfect option to arise.
Deep dives
Choosing the Right Problem to Solve
Identify a problem that you have expertise in and can add value to. Narrow down the problem by breaking it down into its different parts and identifying the most important aspects to focus on.
Search Widely for Solutions
Look for solutions to each part of the problem from various industries and areas. Think beyond the obvious and explore different perspectives to find innovative ideas.
Combine Solutions Through Choice Mapping
Combine and recombine the solutions you have found in order to create new and innovative ideas. Use choice mapping to explore different combinations and choose the most promising ones.
Define How You Want Your Solution to Feel
Before diving into the ideation process, define the emotions and outcomes you want your solution to evoke. This will serve as the criteria for evaluating ideas and guiding the decision-making process.
Iterate and Refine Your Solution
Once you have a solution, share it with others and listen to their perspectives. Use their insights to improve and refine your idea. The feedback and suggestions will help you make necessary adjustments.
Communicate Your Idea Effectively
When sharing your idea with others, focus on understanding how they see and interpret it. This will help you identify any gaps in communication and address them effectively.
Is more choice always better? Join us in conversation with Dr. Sheena Iyengar, a professor at Columbia Business School and an expert on choice, as we examine the complexities of choice overload, and discover why having less can sometimes lead to more. We'll explore the intricate psychology of decision-making, from understanding the reasons behind why we procrastinate making important choices to uncovering why we struggle to handle more than seven options when making a decision. In this episode, we'll also take a look at a powerful strategy that effectively reduces gender bias in hiring, and how our cultural backgrounds significantly influence our approach to decision-making. Dr. Iyengar also reveals her six-step process for fostering innovation, demonstrating that we don't always have to wait for the perfect option to arise – we can actively shape the options we desire. Finally, we'll discuss the pitfalls of brainstorming and uncover the surprising truth about the usefulness of those 'brilliant' thoughts that come to us in the shower.
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