VitalAccurateThinking

Close the Door

I know I am copying Instapundit, but this article hit way too close to home:

“Closing a door on an option is experienced as a loss, and people are willing to pay a price to avoid the emotion of loss,” Dr. Ariely says. In the experiment, the price was easy to measure in lost cash. In life, the costs are less obvious — wasted time, missed opportunities. If you are afraid to drop any project at the office, you pay for it at home."

One think I think that was missed in this research was the consequence of chasing the immediate and small opportunities and failing to focus on the long-term and high payoff opportunities. I call it the "oh shiny" way of choosing what to do versus the plan-do-check-act Deming model that I prefer and practice. The "oh shiny" approach looks for whatever is proximate, with an importance appearance, and takes little time. I also call it the see-do-redo/undo syndrome. Very ineffective.

posted by Jim VAT @ 7:12 PM