A quick tip for today from the ole Bag ‘o Tricks:
Three Options Please!
I learned from a mentor a long time ago that when presenting someone with a decision to make –> give them Three Options.
Why not two options? Because adults will spend time on a decision trying NOT to be wrong.
Two choices means one option is right and one option is wrong – right? See how that line of thought goes? It polarizes the decision. And since no one wants to be wrong, adults will spend more time thinking through the options.
Giving someone THREE options automatically flips some sort of switch in most brains to make it ok to consider all three options. People will make a decision faster and with less angst.
So there is theory behind all this (feel free to look it up) but if I went into all that, I’d have to call this article the “bag of research and reference materials” and that doesn’t sound nearly as much fun – does it?
Until next time … wishing you business readiness success!
Kirsten Jordan is a Partner at PeopleResults. She can be reached on Twitter @Kirstenkbdb. Sign up to receive her and her colleagues’ blog at Current.
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Kirsten – this simple trick has made a huge difference for me so many times in the course of my career and projects! Funny how that can often make things so much easier in terms of decision making.
Isn’t that the truth? It’s been invaluable advice!