The fish kettle vs the chef’s knife
Making best use of your time and money
My brother made one of his many thoughtful observations. “People spend a lot of money on chinaware and kitchenware they barely use, but then go cheap on the items they use the most. Shouldn’t you spend more money on a decent chef’s knife, which you use daily, and spend a lot less on the fish kettle or the platter that both sit buried in the back of an obscure cupboard for most of the year?”
I’ve tried to remember this ever since he first remarked on it to me. It came to mind when I was reading recently about maximizers and satisficers. Barry Schwarz refers to these two modes in his book, The Paradox of Choice. A maximizers wants to make the best decision possible, and a satisficer will make a decision once their criteria are met.
I know several maximizers. They spend an inordinate amount of time researching all their options, trying to find one that has no short-comings. They may end up with the best option, but then worry they may have missed something even better. Satisficers may end up with a poorer quality item but they are happier with it. Is your goal happiness, or having the best?
As with most things, we’re usually both; we will be a maximizer for some things, and a satisficer for others. I’m a maximizer for running shoes because I don’t want to suffer an injury, but I’m a satisficer for soap because as long as it cleans and has a nice scent I’m golden. I’m a maximizer when I need a plumber because when things go wrong with water they go very wrong, but I’m a satisficer for dry cleaning because quite frankly I can’t really tell the difference between before and after.
I try to keep in the mind the importance of the quality in the item or service I’m choosing. I try to keep in mind how often I’ll use it. Sometimes I’ll go down a rabbit hole of research, perhaps because it’s fun to explore its cool features, but I also try to keep in mind the value of my time. What is my time worth?
Originally published at http://paoloduffini.wordpress.com on February 18, 2021.
