A.500.4.3.RB_MenesesAlexandria
The act of making your own
choices is something that was instilled in me at an extremely young age. So
much so that when I had a question for my father he would most often encourage
me to “figure it out Alexandria”, this was my fathers way of telling me to
explore my question or the conflict I was faced with and to come to my own
conclusions based on my findings. Although as Dr. Iyengar's research found, sometimes making our own choices is not our first preference, like for the
Asian-American children that performed their best when they believed their
mothers had made the choice for them (Iyengar, 2010). I have a bit of an
opposition to Dr. Iyengar’s finding, she recorded her results as the students
not having a choice when they were told their mothers had made a selection for
them, and in that physical game selection that holds true, but if you
examine deeper there is very much a presence of choice in that experiment.
Though it may be subconscious, the students made a choice of attitude when they
were informed of their mother’s supposed selection. Whether the choice was to
try their hardest to excel because their mothers made the selection like the
Asian-American children, or whether it was to begrudgingly play the game even
though their mothers had the privilege of choice like the attitude of the
Anglo-American children, that, in my eyes is a choice, but that could very well
be the result of my cultural surrounding and upbringing.
More options
lead to better choices, I agree with Dr. Iyengar at the level that this may not
always hold true, but for the most part I think that is does. She spoke to when
people have to make complex selections that have a great impact, like insurance
and retirement plans and it made me think of my current role as a marketer for
a financial group, with a specialization in retirement solutions. The amount of
choices that we choose to inform our customers about is somewhat limited depending
on their specific situation and goals, if we provided our customers with information
on every single choice available to them it would be overwhelming and too
daunting of a task to organize what is pertinent to them and what is not. With
that said, I rather have more choices then less, comparing at the extremes, if I
have no choices and I am left with a selection that was made for me there is
absolutely no control over whether that decision enhances or detracts value
from my life, alternatively if I have thousands of choices to choose from it
may take an extensive amount of time to go through the options but I would
eventually come to what I would perceive as a better choice simply because I
was given the privilege of making a choice. Dr. Iyengar summarizes this idea
well with “when it comes to choice we
have far more to gain then to loose” (Iyengar,
2010).
“Never say no to choice”
sounds a bit ironic to me, by saying no to choice you are doing just that,
making a choice (Iyengar,
2010). As I have learned in my basic
economic courses there is always at least two choices, one alternative is
always selected over another. Even if you decide not to have a say in your
selection, that is a choice. Even in communistic societies where one might think choice is scarce, everyone in that community is making a choice to allow
someone else, the government, to make their choices for them. When mankind
demands choice is when incredible things happen, that may be the democratic
culture that was instilled in me but it is my choice to accept those
upbringings and beliefs and to wear them as my own, I think this point of view
is summarized nicely with “for me, all open-ended systems have the potential to
transform themselves into richer versions of themselves” (McNiff, 2002).
In the application of
leadership, choice makes a huge impact on the work life of a team. In my eyes,
the more choice I have the more content I am with my work, whether that be in flexibility
of work schedule or the creativity I am able to utilize in my actual projects. For
others from differing backgrounds and heritages the preference may be on the
opposite side of the spectrum. I think that Dr. Iyengar said it best when she stated “no single narrative serves the needs of everyone
everywhere” (Iyengar, 2010).
As a leader you should be aware of this change in preference from one team member
to another, you should adapt to fit the needs of your team members on an
individual level so they work as effectively and as contentedly as possible.
References
Iyengar, S. (2010, July). The art of choosing.
Retrieved November 11, 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing/transcript?language=en
McNiff, J. (2002). Action research for
professional development: concise advice for new action researchers. Retrieved
October 10, 2011 from http://www.jeanmcniff.com/ar-booklet.asp
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