The concept of choice is discussed in Sheena Iyengar’s video
on how to make choosing easier. According to Iyengar’s (2011) research, a typical American makes an average of 70 choices in a typical day. I was surprised Iyengar (2011) stated 50% of decisions were made in 9 minutes or less, and only 12% of their decisions did they make an hour or more of their time. Dr. Iyengar tells us in her video there are several
techniques we can apply to help us avoid choice overload and improve our choosing experience. The first methodology is to Cut. The concept of less is more relieves us from irrelevant preferences. Second, she suggests concretizing. When someone can visualize something
it makes it more real which enables them to make wiser decisions. The third recommended method is categorization. When choices are categorized people know how to tell these
categories apart and will be able to choose better. For example, when shopping for peanut butter I categorize by crunchy or creamy rather than by brand. The last methodology is the concept of conditioning for complexity. When faced with a high
number of choices a car buyer may experience “shopper’s fatigue” but starting
with a low number of choices and expanding to more will result in higher
motivation and engagement on the buyer’s behalf.
I am a huge fan of cutting the number of choices for
the decisions we make personally and professionally. At home, cutting the choices I offer to my children could make a huge impact. For example, when I let them choose what to eat for breakfast rather than asking what they want and leaving an abundance of options, I can offer two options (i.e. pancakes or eggs). In addition to offering variety, cutting the amount of options will avoid overwhelming the decision maker (Hoch, Kunreuther & Gunther, 2011). At work, this concept can beneficial as well. Our base plans to have a down-day next Friday for anyone that signed up for any of 12 classes. The intent was to encourage community, increase resiliency and build morale. However, certain members of my sections immediately had a negative attitude and complained that all the classes were probably full, that we would probably have to work anyways and that supervision would change their minds. I kept briefing the classes and different options that were available but was still met with negativity. After listening to this TED talk by Dr. Iyengar, I re-framed their options: participate or come to work. I explained this is not mandatory-fun, rather a chance to get kick back and relax for while. Reducing the options made an immediate impact and others started to get excited about the events and sign up for classes that interested them. Using what I learned from this week's lesson I attempted to avoid overwhelming my Airmen yet also increased the perception of variety with the presence of a favorite option, i.e. time off (Hoch, Kunreuther & Gunther, 2011). The concept
of cutting choices really does reduce the “choice overload” we feel in the
decision making process. 
The other methodology that I can practice based on Iyengar’s (2011) recommendation is to learn how to concretize. She suggests that in order for people to understand the difference
between the choices, they have to be able to understand the consequences of
each choice and the consequences need to be felt in a vivid sort of way, in a
very concrete way. Working in aircraft maintenance is a mentally and physically challenging job. It is also a huge responsibility as the pilot and crews lives depend on how well we do our job. But I don't think our young Airmen understand the enormity of their job. They must do their maintain and repair the aircraft safely, efficiently and effectively. If they choose to cut corners there could be devastating consequences. For example, two Airmen recently falsely claimed to have replaced a bad oil filter. They were having trouble removing the bad oil filter and instead of reaching out for help, signed off the job as complete. Luckily, this deception was realized prior to the aircraft flying. I believe the Airmen did not truly understand the consequences of their actions. I have suggested to our base leadership to allow our maintainers to have "flight time" on the aircraft simulators. This would put the maintainers in the pilots seat (no pun intended), where scenarios such as low oil pressure could be played out. In order to help people make
decisions, we need to make things feel “real". I made a decision this week where I failed to use this methodology. My kids' school was celebrating the end of the 1st quarter with a pizza party. My son did not have perfect attendance for the 1st quarter of school (he missed one day). However, the school sent home a permission slip to participate but we would have to pay $2. I decided not to let my kid participate rationalizing that 1-2 pieces of pizza was not worth $2 especially since we usually buy Little Caesars $5 pizzas often. I dismissed it immediately and went on with my day. Two days later I was saying good night to my son and he seemed upset. He explained that he felt left out today and almost cried at school, explaining that he was the only one in his class that did not get pizza. I felt terrible. I had made a decision about a situation that was not "real" to me and without considering all off the consequences. There was no emotional trade off for me and I was shortsighted in my decision which had negative emotional consequences for my child. Had I made the decision more concrete
and made it more vivid the consequences of not including my son, I might have made a better choice. 
Each of Dr. Iyengar's methodologies provide tools to help make
better decisions. Other ways to improve decision making is not being afraid to make a hard decision. As a leader I must lean in to the pain to do the right thing even when it feels unnatural. (Ellis, 2014) IWe must be
able and willing to make choices and move forward. Even if it’s the wrong
decision, I learn and go forward. By using these concepts in concert with decision support systems and our
own intuition I am armed with new ways to enhance my decision-making
ability. References:
Discover Your Decision Making Style. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.kent.edu/career/discover-your-decision-making-style#step-1-anchor.
Ellis, L. (2014). Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton. S.1.: FreedomStar Media.
Hoch, S., Kunreuther, H. & Gunther, R. (2001). Wharton on
Making Decisions. John Wiley & sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
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