INKTOBER DAY 21: CHAINS

21. Oktober 2023  •  1 Minuten

Sacrificing shock absorbers in the name of efficiency might look good on a quarterly report. But in a world that is radically uncertain, choosing the option which will give us good-enough results under the widest range of possible futures is more resilient.

A decade ago, the American psychologist Adam Grant and I argued in a journal paper that this ‘too much of a good thing’ phenomenon might be a general rule. Some motivation produces excellent performance; too much motivation produces choking. Some group collaboration produces cohesion and enhances productivity; too much of it leads to staleness. Some empathy enables you to understand what another person is going through; too much could prevent you from saying and doing hard things. Similarly, in my book The Paradox of Choice (2004), I argued that, whereas a life with no freedom to choose is not worth living, a life with too much choice leads to paralysis, bad decisions and dissatisfaction. Finding the right amount – what Aristotle called the ‘mean’ – of motivation, collaboration, empathy, choice and many other aspects of life, including efficiency, is a key challenge we face, both as individuals and as a society.

— Christian Jarrett, Psyche

(→ Inktober drawing challenge 2023)