Once upon a time my wife and I were picking up supplies in the drugstore. I headed over to the men's personal care section to replace a lost razor.
What I wanted: something sharp. Preferably inexpensive and durable. What I saw: a titanic display of disposable razors, razor handles, replaceable razor heads with one, two, three or four blades, foil head electric razors, rotary head electric razors. The options were spread five shelves high and several strides long.
I was boggled. Curses, those replacement razor heads are expensive. They lull you with a cheap handle and then nail you later by charging $2 per razor head. I hate feeling like a sucker. But those plastic disposable razors are such a waste. And I don't want to mess around with electric, I hear you don't get a close shave. Rrrgh. OK, so it's got to be a handle with replaceable head. Should I get a vibrating handle with 3-blade razors? Or a normal handle with 4-blade razors? Do the number of blades really make a difference? What about that soothing aloe vera strip? Oh come on, you have a flashlight in the razor now? Gillette: your display is enormous, why don't you just tell me which one is the best a man can get? Wait, how much do those replacement blades cost again?
I almost had a breakdown right there in the store. I was pacing. Mind racing. I was muttering to myself. Okay, I'll admit it: I had actually started to rant out loud right there in the aisle. My wife finally rescued me and gently escorted me out of the store.
I've since learned that I was suffering from a severe case of "option paralysis", which is defined succinctly by Urban Dictionary as "the tendency, when given unlimited choices, to make none." There was an interesting little radio piece about this on WNYC a couple years ago.
Don't get me wrong. I actually think it's great that people have so many choices in the market. OK, maybe the razor companies could tone it down a little. But choices are fundamentally a good thing.
I just wish I could make these decisions more quickly. It didn't take me long to figure out the basic product model I wanted: a durable handle with replaceable razor heads. But at that point the combination of brands and specific features overwhelmed me. They all seemed pretty much the same to me. The breathless promises on the packaging about this or that feature only reinforced my suspicion that there wasn't any real difference in the quality of the shave. I checked the prices between similar models and didn't see any obvious differences there. Should I just flip a coin?
If only I could have narrowed my choices by simply starting with a brand. A handful of options on one shelf is exponentially easier to navigate than dozens of options spread along an entire wall. (Human brains quickly get overloaded trying to hold more than seven discrete chunks of information at the same time. Consider our ability to remember phone digits.)
There are a lot of reasons why I'm excited about my team's work on Citizens Market, mainly the potential to alter the global impact of business on a wide range of social and environmental issues. But I'm also excited for my own selfish reasons: this just might be the cure for my option paralysis!
As I stood there dazzled and ambiguous before that shining wall of razors, it would have been just so satisfying to scan a few barcodes with my iPhone, identify the brand with the best social and environmental reputation, and then quickly pick a razor model offered by that brand. I would have walked out of that store with a smile. Much better than googly eyes and froth on my lips.
- Stephane
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