Choose satisficing over maximising

When we're working on a task or activity at some point we need to say, ‘Enough. It's satisfactory. That will suffice.’ 'Satisfactory’ and ‘suffice’ were cleverly combined in Nobel Prize–winning economist Herbert Simon's Theory of Satisficing.

This decision-making theory says look at alternatives and go with the best. Make a choice. It will do, it is good enough.

In my book ‘ish: The Problem with our Pursuit for Perfection and the Life-Changing Practice of Good Enough’, ish means somewhat, to some extent. Ish is about satisficing.

Maximising is not good for us. Perfectionists (called ‘maximisers’ by Simon):

- exhaustively seek the best options

- compare everything against others to an unhealthy degree

- expend excess time and energy, and

- end up unhappier with the outcomes.

Ish is the opposite; it's about being a satisficer. We:

- accept good enough

- not obsess over the options

- move on after deciding, and

- end up being happier with outcomes.

It's good enough!

All that effort, unhappy with the outcomes

On the topic of ‘maximising’, this week’s posts highlight the damaging effects of striving for more, better, perfect.

Maximising isn’t as good as it sounds. It means we put in extreme, herculean efforts trying to make things better, tick all the boxes, cover all the bases (and other metaphors!) to cover every question, topic or query. We work back late, take work home, stay up late, do ‘all nighters’, come in early and put other priorities aside to focus on doing still more on this task or project.

We expend excess time and energy. Excess. More than is required. We know it’s not required because of economic and mathematical laws and principles like the Pareto Effect (the 80/20 rule) and the Law of Diminishing Returns.

Effort is not equal. Some effort is useful, giving us a good return and progress; some of our effort ends up being a total waste of time!

And then ... maximisers don’t tend to be as happy with the outcomes as if they'd called ’time’ sooner on a task. It's a big 'no' to maximising

Do you apply the 80/20 rule in your world (20% effort brings 80% of the reward)?

The danger of more

Buying popcorn at the Apollo 11 doco recently (incredible music by Matt Morton btw) the attendant asked if I’d like to ‘supersize it’. The opportunity to upgrade, add more and make bigger is everywhere. When is enough enough for you?

‘Maximizing’ is a perfectionist behaviour. We think we need more, better, different or just more.

➕More research, data or insights before we present

➕More consultation, more people, more topics before deciding

➕More searches for more options before choosing

➕More editing before posting.

 The drive for more is habitual, hedonic. We gain pleasure, reward and satisfaction - first from desiring more, then seeking it, getting it and knowing that we have it. Only to start the cycle again when we don’t feel better about the more we just got.

To go without is a fear. There's the rise of FOMO (fear of missing out) as a feeling but the JOMO (joy of missing out) fans affirm that life is OK with less.

Be aware of your drive for more, more than you had when you thought it was enough. Don’t be fooled by it. Enough can be good enough.

What society expects of you

In recent posts I’ve mentioned the expectations we can have:

- of ourselves

- of others.

There’s a third. It’s what we perceive society expects of us.  

- Society ... you know, other people. Them. Those people over there.

We can worry a lot about what people think of us. What will they say? How will they perceive us? These worries can become huge filters, censors and constraints to our thoughts and behaviour. They can cause us unnecessary doubt and make us procrastinate, second guess ourselves and reject some of the great things we attempt.

We can also worry that we ‘should’ be doing better ... or more or higher or faster or longer or neater or cleaner, than we are.

These are the three types of perfectionism and expectations, all on the increase in the world right now:

- Of ourselves

- Of others

- What society expects of us.

All of this pressure, piling up, making us overthink, overwork, lose sleep and get stuck.

Next time you feel stuck or find yourself judging your work or ideas, check in on which of these three types of perfectionism could be at play. 'Seeing it' is the first step to finding ways around it. 

Go for excellence not perfection

Excellence says 'good'. It's the act and output of excelling with good qualities in high degree. Yet some parts may not be excellent and these we hope will be the parts that don't really matter or those that can be improved over time.

My mother, Shirley, put a little sign in our family home years ago that read: ‘I may not be perfect, but parts of me are excellent.’ This is what it's about! Parts of our project, task or activity could well be admirable, impressive, grand and outstanding. And other parts...may be less than that.

Industries that have established 'Centres for Excellence' - in my local region - include Science, Child and family health, Disability, Railways, Youth mental health, and Automotive.

These sectors know that everything isn't perfect but parts of them are excellent; the parts that matter.

They want to improve and get better with both the parts that are already excellent and the parts that need to be a bit more excellent!  

Let me know what you think. Could you go for something like ‘iterative improvement’ or ‘progressive excellence’, rather than trying to make things perfect?