{"id":261,"date":"2013-08-23T11:08:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T11:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scqa.hult.edu\/en\/news\/hult-labs\/2013\/august\/stumped-on-a-decision-try-an-experiment\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T13:25:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T13:25:52","slug":"stumped-on-a-decision-try-an-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hult.edu\/blog\/stumped-on-a-decision-try-an-experiment\/","title":{"rendered":"Stumped on a Decision? Try an Experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve written before about\u00a0the process of making choices<\/a>, and why having an abundance of options spread out before us is actually far worse than having just a few to pick through. Why is that? Consider this: you will make, on average, 70 choices in one day,\u00a0according to Social Psychologist Sheena Iyengar<\/a>. Any wonder why decision making can sometimes seem so overwhelming\u2014and so\u00a0hard<\/em>?<\/p>\n

In his article \u201cThink of Decisions as Experiments and Start Making Better Ones<\/a>,\u201d Leo Babauta asks a question that sheds light on why making a decision can be so tough: \u201cHow can we make a choice when we don\u2019t know the outcome of each choice?\u201d The answer to this, says Babauta, is that we just don\u2019t and as a result, we often procrastinate. \u201cMost of the time, people don\u2019t decide. They put off deciding, which is why inboxes are full and\u00a0clutter<\/a>\u00a0piles up and life choices are postponed and stress grows.\u201d Does this sound even a little familiar?<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Babauta has a recommendation for how we can approach decisions to relieve some of the pressure involved in making them: \u201cSee decisions not as final choices, but experiments. The anxiety (and paralysis) comes when people are worried about making the perfect choice and worried about making the wrong choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another way to look at it. Are there right or wrong answers when it comes to experiments? In a word, no. When you go into scientist mode, the five basic steps for conducting an experiment include: posing a question, collecting data (and\/or research), creating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and evaluating the results to determine the outcome of the experiment. There\u2019s nothing in there about being right or wrong\u2014it\u2019s just one more way to gain an insight. So for example, if you are trying to decide if you are going to move to Sydney, Australia to look for a job (as a friend is currently in the process of doing), viewing the decision making process as an experiment removes some of the stress that looms over making an international move, like: \u201cWill I make friends? Will I adjust to living in a new country? Can I learn to drive on the opposite side of the road?\u201d<\/p>\n

It so happens that my potentially Australia-bound friend is conducting an experiment right now. He\u2019s in Sydney for two weeks for some informational interviews, to scope out the rental market, and to generally walk the streets of the city to get a good gut feel if it\u2019s the right spot for him to drop his anchor and stay awhile. At the conclusion of his two-week stay, he\u2019ll be back in the States with a stronger set of data points than when he left. This will give him the ability to draw a much stronger conclusion about whether or not to be an expat than when he first embarked on his journey to Oz (that would be the colloquial for Australia, not the place with the Wizard and Dorothy and all that).<\/p>\n

What if my friend makes the decision to move and in six months time is breathtakingly homesick or generally miserable? Guess what? He can move back. It\u2019s that simple. Maybe a plane ticket to San Francisco from Sydney isn\u2019t inexpensive, but with an emergency plane ticket fund allocated, it\u2019s still doable. And what if he finds a great job, the love of his life, and a great pub where everyone knows his name? Then it will have been worth making the leap to a new country and a new life, based on a two-week dry run.<\/p>\n

Here are some final words from Babauta on running your own decision making experiments: \u201cA bigger-picture perspective helps here. Experiments might take months, or a year. That\u2019s a tiny amount of time in the space of a lifetime, and those bigger experiments are worth learning about. When you\u2019re just conducting experiments, there\u2019s no failure. Any result is learning. If there\u2019s no failure, you don\u2019t have to worry\u2026have fun with your experiments.\u201d We\u2019ll add a few more words as well. Once the stress is removed from the equation, decisions are easier to make and can be done much more quickly. Before you know it, your \u201cin\u201d box will be empty. What will you do with all that spare time? It should be an easy decision.<\/p>\n

Hult offers a range of highly skills-focused and employability-driven business school programs<\/a> including a range of MBA options and a comprehensive one year Masters in International Business<\/a>. To find out more, take a look at our blog My Masters in International Business: Looking back on a life-changing year<\/a>. Download a brochure or get in touch today to find out how Hult can help you to learn about the business world, the future, and yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve written before about\u00a0the process of making choices, and why having an abundance of options spread out before us is actually far worse than having just a few to pick…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nStumped on a Decision? Try an Experiment | Hult International Business School<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We\u2019ve written before about\u00a0the process of making choices, and why having an abundance of options spread out before us is actually far worse than having just a few to pick through. Why is that? Consider this: you will make, on average, 70 choices in one day,\u00a0according to Social Psychologist Sheena Iyengar. 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