sstream of consciousness

Sometimes I find myself in an analysis paralysis situation. In short words: analysis paralysis is a state of mind when you spend too much time weighing all pros and cons of many alternatives instead of moving forward.

The problem gets worse in modern world where abundnace of choice dominates. It gets especially worse in the hight-tech domains. It becomes a total nightmare if you are an expert in alternatives under question (or so you think).

I always forcefully break myself out of this situation (OK, not always, but I try my best). Otherwise you get obsessed with some stupid choice and here lies the way to stress, time-wasting, procrastination and burnout. If you find yourself in that situation, here are some ways to stop it:

• Flipping the coin. The simplest and dumbest way to make a choice. I almost never do that. However, if choice is not very important, or further procrastination will cost you more than price of a wrong choice and other ways did not work out, that is the way to go.
• Visual impression. Or audial, or tactile, or even smell. Listen to your senses. For example, if you stuck between several gadgets that do pretty much the same, and features are more or less on par, try to choose the one that ... looks cooler, impresses you more, feels better in hand. That works especially well if alternatves differ only in features you do not really need or care about. You probably can live with a mobile handset that does not have ringtone DJ application, but you would certainly want a handset that looks and feels just right.
• Killer feature If this is not going to give you the winner right away, it will at least narrow down your alternatives. If you absolutely need one feature (or ability, or property), analyze only those alternatives that have it. Even if you cannot name that feature now, think about features you will need in near future.
• Pick up the leader. Very pragmatic strategy, it gets even more pragmatic in high-tech area. If you have to choose a table you do not care if it is not like any other table in your neighbourhood. In fact you do not want your table to be "standard, average table" (especially if you are a woman). Table (or dress, or curtains, whatnot) is dead simple stuff, it just exists and works. Not so with high-technology products or any other products of non-trivial complexity. Aftermarket customization, third-party add-ons are usually available for market leading stuff. You are more likely to get occasional techinical support from your friend if she has the same device or software. If you are in the market where there is no proven leader, choose gadget/software/technology with bigger community around it.
• Orientation on brand. I do not really like that one because it may be really misleading. However if differences between products are not very tangible, that is very popular strategy. More often than not people use that strategy in CMFG (consumer/medical/food goods). That's why CMFG companies were able to build such strong brands (Coca-Cola, Procter and Gamble): once you are king of a mountain, your brand is more or less self-sustaining. Brand owner just needs to infuse much less marketing effort than follow-uppers.

-- AF

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