The
assumptions that are made every day on choices are as common as stumbling
walking down the sidewalk. The light that Dr. Lyengar’s gives to the subject of
choices is not what I had thought it to be.
I
never thought that there was that big of a gap between how happy we are in choosing
something and when our mom chooses something for us. The fact that just because
something was decided before you got there makes us as Americans unhappy.
The opposite was true for people of different nations, like the Chinese. I
thought about this question for a more grown up scenario. If my mom gave me a
free car that she picked out compared to me picking out a car that I had to pay
for, I would choose to pick out my own car. The car my mom picked out may be
free but I want to pick out my own car. The option is that it is free is fine
when you first look at the situation but you grow tired of the car soon because
you would see the other cars that you could have.
I
thought the most interesting fact that Dr. Lyengar said was that of the parents
of children who were prematurely born wanted the decision to “pull the plug”,
rather than having the doctors say that’s what he was going to do. I can’t
rightly put myself in the place of those parents because I’m not one yet, but I
would rather blame the doctor the rest of my life than struggle with the
reality that I put my child to death and the question of if. Blame is a much
easier sentence than if. I can blame the doctor even though I know given that
option I would have done the same thing. The worry of if in our lives will
undoubtedly eat away at us forever, while blame leaves no regrets or if’s.
Given the implication on leadership, we can reason that people given the choice of a task they want to do from a list will make them happier than a choice forced on them. I think that if you have a list of things that need done and you give the choice to the people and let them choose what task they want to do, you would then have happier subordinates. Some would still get the nasty job that no one wants to do but still need done, but you let them choose first next time and people would get along slightly better. There are several problem with this theory. People think that there is a hierarchy just because they have been doing the same job for longer. I don't believe that just because someone has been doing something for a longer time than someone else that they shouldn't still have to do the nasty jobs. As a leader, we need to implement the idea that everyone is equal and that there are no favorites.
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