„Maximizer“ and „satisficer“ are terms for two different decision-making styles, first introduced by Herbert A. Simon and further popularised by Schwartz et al. (2002).
They refer to how people tend to make decisions: maximisers want to get the most out of every situation, strive for the best option and seldom settle. Whereas satisficers are happy with something good enough, a choice that crosses the threshold of acceptability.
When preparing for a movie night with friends, a maximiser would check every platform and every movie, compare ratings and choose the best one. A satisficer would skim through the options and go by gut.
However, reading about these two different decision-making styles, we might immediately resonate with one and ask ourselves whether we belong to ‚Team Yay‘ or ‚Team Nay‘. The good news is that there is no such a thing as ‚good‘ or ‚bad‘. The differences can be examined from different aspects:
- What are the differences in the quality of decisions?
- How do both deal with time pressure and scarcity of information?
- How do they perceive their choices and outcomes?
As a leader, it is essential to be aware of being a maximiser or satisficer. This way we get clear on our strengths and weaknesses.
Maximising vs satisficing career decisions
A study by Iyengar S.S. and colleagues followed the path of 548 students from eleven colleges and universities as they applied for jobs. The data showed a clear pattern: maximisers had accepted jobs that paid 20% higher on average compared to their satisficer peers.
So being a maximiser has somehow positive effects on career decisions. On the one hand, maximisers weigh all possible alternatives to ensure they choose the best option. But, on the other hand, they are more likely to switch jobs thanks to their opportunity-seeking behaviour.
So it sounds logical that maximisers get paid 20% more on average as they invest much more time searching for better career opportunities.
However, salary as an indicator of career success can be measured objectively. But research also focuses on the overall satisfaction of maximisers and satisficers. Do they actually perceive their results as satisfying or not?
Do more options make us happier?
So, maximisers put a lot more effort into making decisions and turn out to be successful thanks to that. But are they really happy with their outcomes?
We know that too much choice can be truly daunting. Although we want to have more than one movie to choose from, there is a point where every added option hurts, and we might end up with a book instead.
Why is that so? First, the more options we have, the more time-consuming it is to gather information and decide. On top of that, as our possibilities expand, our expectations of what is a good outcome rise – we place great pressure on ourselves as we feel the need to make the best out of the situation.
However, too much choice is more likely to be exhausting for maximisers than satisficers. This is because satisficers are looking for a good option, but more alternatives mean more effort and work for maximisers. Additionally, although weighing all the alternatives, they tend to doubt and regret their decision as there could have been even better options.
If we get back to the previous study, Iyengar S.S. and colleagues also found out that despite their relative success, maximisers were less satisfied with the job search outcome and more stressed, anxious and worried throughout the process.
All in all, maximising behaviour might lead to certain better outcomes but to less satisfaction as well.
Maximising or satisficing as a Leader?
Decision-making and problem-solving involve a certain degree of uncertainty and scarcity of resources. Resources are scarce whenever we are under time pressure and face a need for more information or similar.
In an ideal scenario, where all information, resources and time are available, the maximiser will probably make a better decision as they take their time to check all alternatives. In contrast, the satisficers will be ok with any suitable option.
But as soon as a significant level of pressure or scarcity occurs, leaders are more or less forced to reduce their focus on a manageable amount of alternatives and act quickly. In a scenario like this, satisficers are much more in their element than maximisers. They have a sense for intuitively right decisions, whereas maximisers will probably have to manage a great load of uncertainty.
Conclusion: balance is the key
So maximising behaviour can lead to better choices, whereas satisficers perceive their outcomes more positively and might be better at handling pressurised situations.
Both have qualities that can be essential as a leader as we want to make good decisions whenever possible but stay positive and handle uncertainty effectively as well.
Therefore I recommend training both styles and choosing the most proper behaviour in certain situations.
In nearly every life situation, I used to be an absolute maximiser type of person. Whenever I had to decide, I focused on one specific indicator and rated all options. However, I often felt like there could be an even better option.So I researched a lot to fight my feeling of missing something.
My Mom laughs at this part of me until today. Shopping with me has been an expedition. In restaurants, I needed the most time from all of us choosing a meal.
Getting older, I realised that my maximising behaviour was limiting me to a certain extent. I wanted more ease and joy over at least the tiny decisions in life I had to make. So I started to train my satisficing behaviour whenever I was shopping for anything and ordering at a restaurant. With time, I got better and felt better.
In business life, this journey went on slightly differently. Although a satisficer can make intuitively better decisions under pressure, this might not be true for newbies with relatively low experience. „Intuitively good“ decisions are profound, intelligent heuristic- and experience-based decisions, according to Gigerenzer, that often lead to better outcomes than complex analysis.
Intuition is less about suddenly "knowing" the right answer and more about instinctively understanding what information is unimportant. -Gerd Gigerenzer Share on XBut people who are relatively new to business life might not have enough experience to make intuitive decisions. This means, in the beginning, maximising behaviour is necessary until we gain sufficient interpersonal- and expertise-related experience.
