Forget the magic 8 ball! There’s a better way to make decisions.
Because when researchers analysed over 100,000 real-life Reddit dilemmas, they found something interesting.
Despite each dilemma seeming to be deeply personal and nuanced, “distinct groups of attributes and trade-offs emerge”.
In other words, there are patterns in how we make decisions.
Dilemmas included things like:
- “If I move, I’ll have a fresh start but give up family support.”
- “Should I splurge my bonus on a holiday or pay down my mortgage?”
- “Should I take a better paying job with longer hours, or prioritise time with my kids?”
These are everyday, messy, difficult decisions.
But underpinning them are common and predictable trade-offs – the same tensions that quietly shape almost every choice we, our colleagues, our customers and our loved ones make.
So, I’ve distilled these trade-offs into four master themes:
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Time. Are the needs of now or later more important?
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Safety. Is it better to take the known path or the riskier adventure?
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Value. Is the payoff worthwhile?
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Connection. How do I retain my autonomy while living in community?
When we overlay these themes with what we know from behavioural science, the picture becomes even more interesting.
Because decisions become dilemmas when our head and gut pull in opposite directions. When what we know to be sensible (our slower, rational System 2) clashes with what we feel to be safe or satisfying (our faster, emotional System 1).
By understanding more about how people make decisions, and the invisible trade-offs beneath them, we can design choices, conversations and environments that help all of us act with greater clarity, confidence and courage.
P.S. A reminder to Just Do This members…👋
Our open office hour is TODAY, 13 November 11.30am-12.30pm Melbourne time. Drop by and ask me questions about your business.
You’ll find the link to join in the New This Month section here.
Ref: S. Bhatia, S.T. van Baal, F. Wang, & L. Walasek, Computational analysis of 100 K choice dilemmas: Decision attributes, trade-off structures, and model-based prediction, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122 (17) e2406489122
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