Adventures in Reading

One more thing about Barry Schwartz’s The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. I learned many new terms from reading The Paradox of Choice; in many cases I already knew the concept but did not know the technical term.

Here are some of those terms:

• expected utility, experienced utility, remembered utility - basically utility is defined as what you get out of a certain experience and expected is past, experienced is present, and remembered is future. For us to know what we want, all three types of utility must align.
• availability heuristic - people assume that the more available some piece of information is to memory, the more frequently we must have encountered it in the past.
• anchoring - tendency to heavily rely , or “anchor,” on one piece of information when making decisions, for example seeing $3,000 TVs for sale at Walmart will make people think that paying $1,000 for a smaller TV is reasonable when if that $3,000 TV had not been there they would have only been willing to spend $500.
• framing - how we feel about a decision or an event depends highly on how we “frame” it (whether we think we are getting a discount or paying a fee/surcharge).
• endowment effect - once you own something (it becomes part of your endowment), you value it more and giving it up becomes more of a loss.
• chooser versus picker - a chooser actively thinks about and reflects on possibilities before making a decision whereas a picker simply makes decisions without thinking and hopes for the best.
• maximizer versus satisficer - a maximizer wants to know that every decision made was the best that could be made whereas a satisficer settles for good enough (rather than perfect) without worrying about the possibility that there might be something better. Minimizers also tend to ruminate, savor positive events less, do not cope as well with negative events, and take longer to recover their sense of well-being after something bad happens to them. People tend to be “domain specific” in their tendencies to be maximizers or satisficers.
• second-order decisions - methods to reduce the burden of decisions (adopting rules or presumptions; creating standards; delegating authority to others; taking small steps; picking rather than choose).
• postdecision regret versus anticipated regret - the first can be thought of as “buyer’s remorse” (which makes decisions harder to enjoy) while the second is thinking about the regret one could feel (which makes decisions tougher to make).
• counterfactual thinking - the ability to imagine a world that is different than our actual world. Upward counterfactual thinking (imagining a better result) may lead to envy and resentment but can also inspire and motivate change. Downward counterfactual thinking (imagining a worse result) can lead to pleasure or guilt in your current situation.
• sunk costs - costs that have already been incurred that cannot be recovered to any significant degree.
• positional goods - products and services whose value is mostly, if not exclusively, a function of their desirability in comparison to other options, for example a Rolex watch as compared to a generic brand from Walmart.

To read my other posts about The Paradox of Choice, click here; to read my other entries about positive psychology, click here.

And with that, I conclude my informal study of positive psychology and the science and economics of happiness. (I still plan to read Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard and The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness by Yongey Rinpoche Mingyur, but not until the summer or fall.)

Yesterday, I wrote about What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: Discover the 20 Workplace Habits You Need to Break by Marshall Goldsmith and said:

I found the list of “transactional flaws” so interesting that I really want to share it with you all, but I’d be spoiling the book for you if I did that and this book is fantastic and really worth reading. I’d hate to rob you of that experience.

Well, I’ve had so many request to share them that I realized the least I could do is point you to the URL on author’s website where you can find the list of transactional flaws. So here ya go, click here to read Marshall Goldsmith’s list of 20 transactional flaws that cause interpersonal issues and may prevent us from reaching our personal and professional goals.

I don’t know about you but I am absolutely guilty of 60% of these flaws at least some of the time.

Number 17, failing to express gratitude, Number 10, failing to give proper recognition, Number 11, claiming credit that we don’t deserve, are three of the flaws that I very rarely commit. I go out of my way to thank people and recognize their efforts, both privately and publicly, and I enjoy giving credit where it’s due. In fact, I probably give too much credit in an effort to prevent committing this flaw.

Similarly, Number 18, punishing the messenger, Number 15, refusing to express regret, Number 12, making excuses, and Number 13, clinging to the past, and are flaws I’d like to believe that I seldom commit. I try my best not to blame people and I’d like to believe that I take full responsibility — publicly if necessary — for my actions (and do so without deflecting blame to the past), though I’m sure I could improve.

Number 1, winning too much, I don’t do too often either. I’m pretty much anti-competitive so while I like to do well compared to my own internal standards, I generally don’t feel a need to “win.” Same goes for Number 19, passing the buck, and Number 20, an excessive need to be “me.“ I try to work on my faults, and realize that I’m still a long way from fixing them all, but I certainly try not to claim that my faults are just part of who I am, take it or leave it. is the same.

Number 4, making destructive comments, and Number 8, negativity, or “let me explain why that won’t work,“ I’d like to believe are not part of my modus operandi though I would guess that unfortunately my desire to find the truth can sometimes come off as a “let me explain why that won’t work” kind of attitude.

Number 9, withholding information, and Number 16, not listening, just sound totally ludicrous to me! I believe that people have these flaws but would like to believe that I am not among those people.

Number 2, adding too much value, I commit frequently. I try to refrain from providing advice unless I am asked, but when I am asked I probably give more advice than is necessary. Number 5, starting with “no” “but,” or “however,” I absolutely do all too frequently. I hadn’t realized until reading this book how destructive this can be, even with the best of intentions.

Number 6, telling the world how smart we are, I probably do commit more frequently than I should. I can think of several occasions when I’ve said something and then immediately realized how arrogant I probably sounded.

Number 14, playing favorites, and Number 3, passing judgment, I want to believe I don’t commit but I know that I do. No matter how “fair” we all like to think we are, we subconsciously if not consciously continually pass judgments play favorites. I absolutely need to work on these flaws.

Number 7, speaking when angry, I certainly do in personal situations though I would like to believe that I very rarely commit this flaw in professional situations. Still, I could stand to work on this.