How do you find grocery shopping? Is it something you enjoy, or just a necessity? When faced with needing to buy something new, do you like having several options, or do you find that overwhelming? For me, I prefer to shop in a store with fewer options – maybe one or two of each type of product. It appears that I’m not the only one: In 2000, Psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper published the study “When Choice is Demotivating” showing that while people are often drawn in by more choice, they are more likely to take action (make a purchase) when faced with fewer choices (summarized below by Barry Schwartz in the Harvard Business Review):
“On one day, shoppers at an upscale food market saw a display table with 24 varieties of gourmet jam. Those who sampled the spreads received a coupon for $1 off any jam. On another day, shoppers saw a similar table, except that only six varieties of the jam were on display. The large display attracted more interest than the small one. But when the time came to purchase, people who saw the large display were one-tenth as likely to buy as people who saw the small display.”
This is also illustrated in a story from the 1950s recently brought back to public view by business leadership author Simon Sinek, about a shoe salesman who was a very successful entrepreneur and owned several women’s shoe stores. A journalist asked the salesman, “What’s your secret?” And he replied, “Two, not three. When a woman comes into my store, I’ll bring her a pair of shoes. She’ll try them on. And she’ll say, could I see that pair, please? And I’ll bring her a second pair of shoes. And she says, could I also see that pair, please? And I’ll say, which one would you like me to take away?” He went on to explain to the journals that when they had a choice of three, they usually bought none. But when they had a choice of two, they bought one.
To be clear, this was originally a sales tactic, and should not necessarily be viewed as guidance for everything in life – political structures can be less divisive and allow for more nuance by having more than only two major political parties, for example. Where the idea of “Two, Not Three” can be most helpful is for anyone – either an individual or a team – who knows they need to take a next step and is struggling to know which one to take of the many options in front of them. Rather than juggling ten different actions and ultimately getting stuck in analysis paralysis, it can be useful to weigh up two options at a time, and then when bringing in a third, decide which one of the first two to discard. Running through your options as a team, or with a trusted partner – and depending on the situation, perhaps even practicing conversations that would need to take place – can help eliminate some options and raise others as viable possibilities. During the process of whittling down to two final options, one can start to stand out as the frontrunner. If both final options are strong, Sinek suggests resorting to a coin flip. If you find yourself satisfied with the outcome of the coin flip, go with that choice; if you’re not satisfied with the outcome, that’s your cue that you favor the other option and you should go with that choice instead.
How can we try the idea of “Two, not Three” this week in our teams or individually?
This Week’s Tip:
Incorporate the idea of “Two, Not Three” in some way – either on your own or with your team – when there are multiple options to move forward. If you try it a few times in low-stakes situations – what to make for dinner, for instance – and it feels helpful, try it with something more consequential. In a team context, try using it when organizing an in-person gathering, or when considering team swag, or some other low-stakes situation, and see how it goes. More than likely, the process will work well for some, and feel time-consuming and unnecessary for others; if that’s true, that helps you learn something about your team! Take note of who finds that process helpful. For those who don’t find it helpful, don’t use it, but for those that do, try it with them in future one-on-ones and project planning.
Try this out this week, and let us know how it goes. We’d love to hear from you!
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