Love stories. Lack of human concern. Obstacles in trying to follow a dream
On one occasion in Springfield, the Simpson family visited Monstromart, a new supermarket with the slogan "Where shopping is a tough challenge." The choice of products was simply huge, shelves with goods reached the ceiling, there were more than a thousand types of nutmeg alone. Eventually, the family returned to their usual Apu's Kwik-E-Mart supermarket.
The Simpsons preferred a supermarket with a limited selection of goods. Logically, this is not the most rational thing to do, but it does give the customer the right feeling.
They chose to be satisfied with what they could choose. good product from several presented, and not get confused in a huge number of Monstromart products. And despite the fact that this is an animated series, this approach is quite real and is confirmed by examples from life.
Less goods - more profit
More recently, Dave Lewis, executive Director largest British retail network Tesco's grocery and industrial products have made shopping in the chain's stores much easier. He decided to remove 30,000 of the 90,000 products from supermarket shelves. This was partly a response to the growing share of German retail chains Aldi and Lidl, which offer only about 2-3 thousand product lines.
For example, Tesco has 28 tomato ketchups to choose from, while discounters Aldi only offer one ketchup per pack of the same size. Tesco offers 224 types of air fresheners, Aldi - only 12, which is still 11 more than needed.
Now Lewis is trying to make shopping at Tesco less time consuming for shoppers. He ran an experiment in 50 stores, making it easier and faster to shop for food ingredients. For example, Indian sauces were placed next to basmati rice, and pasta next to canned tomatoes.
Lewis took a revolutionary approach: he simultaneously reduced the number of products and arranged them in the correct order so that buyers spend much less time choosing and buying. And this had a positive effect on sales.
The very idea that a lot of choice is bad defies everything we have believed for decades.
The large selection is confusing
There is a standard opinion that the big one provides us with freedom and new opportunities, but this opinion will not help you when you are standing in front of a huge rack of bottles of water, thirsty, but cannot choose in any way.
Supermarket Shelves / Flickr.com American psychologist and professor of social theory Barry Schwartz, in his book The Paradox of Choice, argues that in practice, a lot of choices are just confusing.
A great example of this is shown in the jam experiment. IN grocery store equipped two showcases where customers were offered to try jam and get a jar of jam at a $ 1 discount. In one showcase there were six types of jam, in another - 24 types. Of the people who tasted jam in a display with six kinds, 30% bought a jar, and in a display with 24 kinds, only 3% of buyers decided to buy.
Choice removes responsibility from the supplier
Consider another example - retirement savings. Schwartz found out that a friend's firm offered 156 different retirement plans. The professor noted that such a large choice shifts the responsibility for the quality of the chosen plan from the employer to the employee.
When the employer provides few pension plans, he is responsible for their reliability and the quality of the tariffs. But if he offers a huge number of plans, then, as it were, shifts the responsibility for choosing a high-quality plan to employees: "We gave you a huge choice, and if you chose an unprofitable plan, then this is your mistake, and we have nothing to do with it."
And this becomes a huge problem. How many of us feel competent enough to choose the best plan for ourselves from 156 options? People are sure of what to do the right decision about pension savings - this is very important. "But instead of making a choice," says Schwartz, "many put it off indefinitely."
One of his colleagues, who has access to the giant mutual fund company, found that every 10 new funds offered by employers cut workers' contributions by 2%, even if they lost a great chance of getting $ 5,000 a year from the employer.
Feelings of guilt and high expectations
“Even if we finally make a choice,” says Schwartz, “we feel less satisfaction with the outcome than if we chose from fewer options. If you have a lot of alternatives, it's easy to imagine that they are still better than what you have chosen. You worry about making the wrong choice, and it's really frustrating. "
Thus, too many choices can make us unhappy with regrets, guilt, and lost profits. Even worse, a large selection creates new problem - high expectations.
Let's take for example. While the stores sell only one type of jeans that does not suit you, you take them, wear them, wash them, hem them, and they more or less suit you. And when in stores there is a huge variety of jeans: tight, wide, zipped and buttoned, high and low waist - you expect that there should be a model that suits you perfectly.
Robert Sheie / Flickr.com And when you buy the most suitable model from those that were in the store, and realize that it is far from perfect and needs improvement, you get upset.
Schwartz suggests that, to some extent, a large selection robs you of your sense of satisfaction. “The secret to happiness is low expectations,” the professor says.
Then it is not surprising that we are unhappy. In the 10 years since Schwartz wrote the book, the idea of \u200b\u200bhuge choice has permeated all walks of life: schools, sex, parenting products, television. As a result, expectations have also increased greatly.
One area that has been influenced by this trend is dating. began to be considered like any other product: on the Internet we can find and select a promising sexual partner for ourselves.
Dating sites are one of the most common ways to find a romantic partner, and the huge selection on these sites becomes a real problem. A similar situation was shown by comedian Aziz Ansari in his book Modern Novel. In it, a woman made an appointment through a dating app, and while she was driving to a meeting, she looked to see if anyone better appeared in the application.
Stephen McCulloch / Flickr.com In such conditions, a complete rejection of dating and relationships is gaining popularity. As sociology professor Eric Klinenberg wrote, the extraordinary increase in the number of single people is because people have more choice and fewer reasons to choose. In Japan, for example, there are men who have real sex and romantic relationships simply because there is too much pornography on the Internet for every taste.
Psychologist Philip Zimbardo argues that as online pornography provides many choices for satisfying one's desires through masturbation, actual romantic relationships are becoming less and less attractive.
You pay more for the same
There is another problem: the increased choice masks the fact that you are paying more for the things you already have. This often happens in the television industry.
For example, the BT Sport group of sports channels received exclusive rights to broadcast football matches of the Champions League and Europa League. On the one hand, it seems that viewers have more choice and more enjoyment to watch. But if you are a subscriber of another channel, for example Sky Sports, this means the opposite. To watch all the broadcasts you watched in the past year, you will have to pay more.
This often happens on. To watch everything good programs, you need to subscribe to many channels or buy a large package. And 10 years ago, when there was no such diversity, you could watch all good programs on one or two channels.
What is presented to us as a large selection actually costs more. For the average consumer, such a choice is an opportunity to spend the same money and get less or spend more and get the same.
Fear and anxiety for wrong choices
“Consider electricity,” says Professor Renata Salecl, author of The Tyranny of Choice. - The privatization of electricity did not bring the desired results: lower prices and best quality service. Instead, people are constantly worried and guilty about continuing to overpay for electricity when there is probably a better supplier somewhere nearby. ”
We believe that the choices we make after careful planning should bring the expected results - safety, pleasure. That, having made the right choice, we will be able to avoid unpleasant feelings when we have to accept loss or risk. But in the end, the opposite is true: when people are confused by a huge choice and when they worry about it, most often there is denial, ignorance and deliberate blindness.
Yet Schwartz believes that small selection can be beneficial. For example, charter schools appeared in the United States in the 1990s. Since education in public schools in the United States is generally terrible, charter schools have begun to improve the quality of education through constant competition.
But, of course, it doesn't get any easier for parents. As with choosing a pension, choosing a school leaves a sea of \u200b\u200bregret, shame and fear that your choice is not the best. It is no easier to think that your choice directly affects your child's future.
Competition or monopoly
Against the backdrop of all this, in 2015, trends are outlined in the world by reducing the choice, and this applies not only to products in supermarkets. In Britain, for example, politicians propose to re-nationalize railroad and utilities. Perhaps this will help reduce the anxiety and anguish of citizens' choice.
Perhaps, in reality, we do not need an increase, but, on the contrary, a decrease in choice? Fewer competing companies, more monopolies. And before you remember Soviet Union with scarcity and the same goods, read the quote from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, who believes that monopoly is great and competition isn't always good for businesses and customers.
IN real world any business is as successful as it can offer what others cannot. Therefore, monopoly is the normal state of any successful business... Basically, competition is for losers.
Peter Thiel
How do you feel about the choice? Should I make it less?
Surprisingly, many leaders often complain that the best employees are leaving them. If so, they have reason to sound the alarm, as for any company there is nothing worse than losing valuable staff.
You can blame these problems on anything, but the fact remains: people do not leave if they are not satisfied with the work; people leave if they don't like the leader.
By the way, problems can be avoided by looking at the situation in a new way and with a little effort.
First of all, you need to understand which actions of leaders annoy good employees the most.
1. Excessive loads
Overworking is a major cause of burnout. If you work with the best specialists, the temptation to "squeeze" the most out of them is very great, but this desire leads people to confusion - they feel that they are being punished for quality work... In addition, overloading reduces labor productivity. A recent study from Stanford University has shown that for duration working week more than 50 hours, the efficiency drops sharply, and with a duration of more than 55 hours - tends to zero.
If you need to entrust talented employees with additional work, you will have to upgrade them in status. If this is not done, the work will quickly become burdensome for them and eventually they will leave. Excessive workload can be compensated for by adding, promoting or changing positions. Don't expect talented people to work harder than everyone else. Most likely, they will simply find a place where they will be appreciated.
2. Lack of recognition and rewards for good work
At first glance, it might seem that a reassuring pat on the shoulder doesn't mean anything, especially to the best employee with great intrinsic motivation. This impression is deceiving, because praise is liked by everyone, including those who give the whole job. Leaders need to communicate more often with subordinates and figure out how they can be encouraged and rewarded for their success (for example, by giving out an award or praising in front of colleagues). Remember that with talented employees, you will need to do this very often.
3. Lack of human concern
More than half of employees leave their jobs because they fail to build trust with their superiors. Smart leaders know how to maintain a balance between professionalism and humanity. They celebrate the successes of their employees with them, try to help those who are going through hard times, and force them to work to the limit if necessary. Those who are foreign to it continue to complain about the high turnover rate. It is unlikely that people will work for you without feeling your emotional involvement and sincere concern for their welfare.
4. Failure to fulfill obligations
When you make a promise to an employee, you can make them happy or disappointed by provoking them to leave. By fulfilling a promise, you justify the trust and grow in his eyes, which, of course, is very important. When you turn down a promise, you look like a slippery type who doesn't respect other people's feelings. If a manager does not fulfill his promises, sooner or later all employees begin to follow his example.
5. Hiring and promoting the wrong people
Good, hardworking employees want to have similarly conscientious colleagues next to them. If the manager does not care about the careful selection of new personnel, this demotivates those who already work in the company. The promotion of the wrong specialists always leads to disastrous results. A person who worked hard, but was left without a promotion, will surely be offended and begin to look for a new use for his talent.
6. Obstacles in trying to follow the dream
Talented people are always obsessed with what they do. They have hopes and dreams that they aspire to. This aspiration allows them to work productively and enjoy their work. Many managers restrict their subordinates. They fear that people who are obsessed with a passion will perform worse if this passion is allowed to take over them. This fear is completely unfounded. Studies show that the euphoria of chasing a dream increases productivity by about five times.
7. Lack of training
Answering questions about inattention to subordinates, many managers seek excuses for themselves, hiding behind such words as "trust", " independent work"And" delegation of authority ". This is complete nonsense. Leaders must lead, no matter how talented their subordinates are. They must constantly listen and express their opinions.
The management process is endless. If you have a talented employee under your supervision, you need to define a development path for him. The best specialists always count on feedbackand you are required to provide it. If this does not happen, the employee will quickly get bored and relax.
8. Resisting creativity
Talented employees always strive to improve what they touch. If you don't let them do it for fear of innovation, they will quickly hate their job. Trying to stifle creativity harms everyone, including the leader himself.
9. Lack of difficult and interesting tasks
The best managers sometimes give their employees tasks that at first glance seem impossible. They give up on trivial projects and instead try to push people out of their comfort zone, and then do their best to help them succeed. When talented and smart people are forced to do simple or boring work, they start looking for another to test their abilities.
Probably, each of us at least once in our life heard the following phrase: “That's why you need it ?! You are doing wrong. Better to choose this one! " And we can hear these phrases throughout our entire conscious and independent life. In such cases, it is often difficult to determine if the choice is really wrong. Or is it still a delusion of others who for some reason believe that they know better than ourselves what to choose? I also had to deal with similar phenomena, and in a variety of life situations... And how, in such cases, to understand what is still to be guided by, public or one's own opinion?
When do we most often make the “wrong” choice?
In my opinion, there are several life situations in which our choice is most often wrong. But whether he is so only in the opinion of others or is objectively incorrect, you decide.
Appearance . With criticism of friends, and just acquaintances of women, in this matter, I met quite often. As soon as I changed my hair color, hairstyle, manicure, there was certainly at least one dissatisfied with these changes. Well, the question is, who needs it, make my manicures-pedicures a topic for discussion? But those who wish have always been, are and will be. This is what I mean: even if you try to change even the smallest detail in yourself, even if you make not a parting, but an oblique, in any case there will be someone who will criticize you for it. At one time I was very worried if one of my friends did not approve of my changes, and immediately began to ask myself the question: “Maybe I really shouldn't have done this? From the outside, it’s better to know whether it’s good for me or not… ”. But then I began to doubt this: after all, each person has his own subjective view of things, especially when it comes to female appearance and beauty. In addition, those around me can only appreciate the outer side of my changes, but there is also an inner component, that is, how I myself perceive these transformations, my sensations in a new image. Still, it seems to me that it is the inner confidence that the changes in appearance have been beneficial is the main factor. Of course, you can convince your friend that this yellow blouse looks great on her, no matter what others say. But there is always someone who can prove to her otherwise. But if I myself, without anyone's suggestion, decided for myself that in this I look like a queen, then no one will convince me. Constructive criticism is a good thing, but in matters of beauty you need to listen to it very carefully.
Relations
... I wonder if there are such cases when the relationship between a man and a woman receives approval from their entire environment. I don’t know about you, but personally I haven’t come across such a thing. In most cases, someone will definitely be unhappy with your choice, even if they don't say so directly. In such a situation, everything is quite simple: you can calmly build relationships with your chosen one, and do not pay attention to the grumbling of the dissatisfied. Who knows, maybe he just has a personal dislike, he doesn't like your man and that's it, or he is jealous, and maybe even envious. But this is a completely normal situation, unlike the one when almost 100% of your environment does not approve of this relationship. Of course, you shouldn't rush at those around you with your fists and shouts: “Anyway, my Petya is the best! And all of you ...! ". You should also not go to the other extreme - immediately leave this man without explaining to him, and most importantly, herself 
myself, the reasons for this gap. In my opinion, such massive disapproval from others is a good reason to reflect on your relationship. Why doesn't anyone support us? Does everyone around have some kind of unanimous personal dislike for my Petya? Or is it Petya himself and his attitude to me? There are times when people around think this way: “Our Masha is a clever, beautiful woman (and further down the endless list), this Petya does not suit her at all, this is not her level!”, While the opinion of Masha herself is of little interest to anyone, but her arguments in favor of Petya seem unconvincing to everyone. One of my good friends had this situation. And what did she do? Yes, in general, nothing special: she stayed with her beloved Petya, who treated her very well and with whom she was comfortable, and asked all those who disagree with her decision either to stop discussing this topic, or to stop communicating with her altogether. And she stayed with her loved one, and at the same time checked who is a real friend and who is not.
But what if those around you do not sing praises to you, but simply talk about Petya's bad attitude towards you, about his specific personal qualities? Maybe then it is worth looking at this situation through their eyes, that is, from the position of an outside observer, and not a girl in love who looks at the world and at her chosen one through rose-colored glasses? In my life, there was just such a situation when the opinion of others allowed me to critically interpret my relationship, draw the right conclusions and correct the situation. So in this case, I would still listen to the opinions of others. Of course, it should not become a decisive factor, but it can bring certain benefits.
Education and career.
First of all, this point worries the closest people, especially parents, but I have come across situations when the “wrong” choice becomes a problem for a wider circle of people. I think that many people are familiar with such a situation when others unanimously repeat: “Go to study as an economist! A good specialty, you can earn normal money! " It’s as if the benefit is the only thing to be guided by when choosing a profession. Or maybe I dream of studying the life of cephalopods in the Pacific Ocean and not going to be an economist? Such an answer usually shocks advisers: "But ... but ... how ... And what will you live on, how will you earn?" This is a more interesting question. If your hobby is also profitable, it is perfect optionwhich, alas, is not always 
available. How to proceed, if what I want to do cannot provide me with a decent life? Agree with the opinion of others and go to retrain as an economist? I believe that in a similar situation public opinion is simply a stimulus for thought, prompting us to search for an optimal solution. There are many options for solving this problem, and I personally would choose this: I would find another pleasant occupation that would bring a stable income, even if less than working as an economist. Moreover, it must be liked, even if less than the study of mollusks. And as a hobby, I would be engaged in Pacific inhabitants in my free time from work, and then you look, and some interesting work in this direction will come across.
How to make the right decision?
I still face the problem of the “wrong” choice, only in other life situations. For myself, I made the following conclusion: to adhere to the golden mean is the most important thing, to be able to make decisions based both on my own and on public opinion. In some cases, the scales may tip to one side, but you should never forget about the second factor. Yes, I am a person who has the right to my own opinion, but at the same time I do not forget that I live in a society, and not on a desert island. Therefore, I always try to find a compromise between my "I" and society, strive for harmony, so to speak. I myself make decisions and make my choice, and public opinion, if there is common sense, helps me in this difficult task.
The wrong choice often plays a fateful role in our lives. Due to the impossibility of predicting subsequent events, our fate depends on luck. If so you can call a series of events that satisfy us.
One wrong decision robbed Michael of everything.
One ticket for a magnetic rocket, ”I said. I was offered a lottery ticket for change and I decided to agree. “Perhaps I will be lucky today,” he encouraged himself and went to the seats.
In the rocket's cabin he gave the ticket to the controller. They announced the start of take-off and turned on the gravitational fields on the seats. I was immediately pushed to the seat. There was a slight creak of the case when the first magnetic field was turned on. The engines started working and now we have already accelerated to six hundred kilometers per hour. Such overloading of the body is harmful, but this is the fastest way to cross over to the other hemisphere.
The shaking and grinding of metal won't spoil mine great mood... Now that I've quit, I can finally spend more time with Sarah. We will definitely get married and have two children. I will work as a gardener. With the current fashion for landscaping houses, this is a very profitable business. The lottery ticket added hope for a great future.
An hour passed and I arrived in my hometown. I hope Sarah will support my decision. Took the BTS Skytrain as it is the fastest way to get to the upper city. Coming out at my stop, I decided to have a snack on my favorite hot dog and at the same time see my old acquaintance. He was the chef of a small fast food establishment. It's hard to find a great Earth-food diner on Venus right now. When Ben flew here and opened this small establishment, his business took off. Here, everyone who flew in from Earth lacked their familiar, native food.
Ben has always inspired me. I wanted him to make this planet a little like my own. Delivering terrestrial vegetation and landscaping Venus has been my dream since the first day of my arrival. But I had to look for another job and postpone the dream until better times. I started mining minerals in mines. This job clearly did not suit me. Soon I met a girl and fell in love with her. Love brightened my days. I was waiting for the moment when I could finish my previous job and live happily with her.
After a word and ate, I left the diner. Now he was heading straight home. The blue roof of my house is already visible. My heart was leaping from impatience. I missed Sarah ...
She was not there. After searching on the second floor, I decided that she had gone to get groceries. While I'm waiting, you can cook dinner. Going to the refrigerator, I noticed a note. After reading it carefully, I froze.
In short, she wrote that when she flew to Earth, she met an old friend. After spending a lot of time, she fell in love with him again, but did not want to break my heart. Knowing about my arrival, she boarded a ship to Earth today.
I was desperate. Didn't know what to do. Taking some things, I decided to fly back. Gone away from this house. There was a pub on the way to the station. Despair pulled me there. Having forgotten a little for a while, I again followed to the station. It was already night. The short way lay through the streets, not the brightest. Suddenly I felt something at my back.
Give me the money! Said the masked stranger. I didn't resist. He took my wallet and disappeared into the darkness. I didn't care anymore. I thoughtlessly continued walking towards the station. Going out into the field (since Magnetic rockets are located outside the city), I remembered about the lottery ticket that I was given to change. Taking it out of my pocket, I found that I had given it to the conductor by mistake. Now I was holding in my hands a ticket for a magnetic rocket. Now I could go back. All I had to do was wait for rocket number 327, which is heading for my previous job. Approaching the station, I heard the words of the dispatcher.
Three hundred twenty-seventh on the way - I'm lucky, I won't have to wait long.
I decided to once again make sure of my "luck" and see if I really had a rocket ticket in my pocket. Trying to make out a piece of paper in the dark, I heard a strong roar: somewhere a building began to collapse. I turned around. It looks like the three hundred twenty-seventh will never arrive. Control is lost. She rushed straight to the station, and nothing could stop her! I started to run! Fell! Turning around, I saw the rocket nose straight ahead! This was the last thing I saw ...
The session is over, ”the announcement sounded. I took off the holographic helmet, got up from the chair and headed for the exit. It was already dark and cool outside. “Every year the films are more realistic!” - I thought and headed home.