Satisficing
Write what good enough means first, then choose the first option that meets it and stop searching.
- decisions
- autopilot
- hermes
Nikhil has moved into a rented flat in Kochi and needs a mixer grinder. Two weeks later he still has not bought one. He has read reviews at lunch, compared fourteen models and watched three videos. Each time he feels close, a new option appears and he starts again. Meanwhile he is buying ready-made batter every other day.
The search has become the problem. Nikhil is looking for the best mixer grinder, and there is no end to that search.
Satisficing is the other way to choose. You decide what is good enough, then take the first option that meets it. The word was coined by the economist Herbert Simon in the 1950s, from "satisfy" and "suffice".
The decision, worked through
Nikhil takes five minutes and writes his standard before looking at one more model: "750 watts or more, three jars, a service centre in Kochi, and under ₹4,500."
Then he goes down his list. The first two miss the service centre. The third is over budget. The fourth meets all four, and he orders it that evening.
He does not know whether a better one exists. Probably it does. But the extra search would cost him more weeks of ready-made batter and more lunch hours, for a small gain in a machine he will use to grind chutney. He chose a standard, met it, and stopped.
Where it goes wrong
Satisficing suits choices that are small and easy to undo. A mixer grinder can be returned. A job offer, a flat on a long lease or a course fee is different, and a longer search can be worth the effort. Keep the careful hunt for choices that are costly or hard to reverse.
Your standard can also be set too low. "Anything under ₹4,500" is not a standard, it is only a limit. Write the must-haves first and the limit second, so that "good enough" still means something.
And a standard written after you have seen the options drifts toward whatever you already like. Write it before.
One thing to try today
Pick one small purchase or decision you have been putting off. Before you search, write three must-haves and one limit in your notes. Then take the first option that meets all of them, and stop looking. The first time may feel like you are settling, and you are only choosing when to stop.
This is a way to think, not financial, medical or legal advice.
Each Sunday: one mental model and one real decision to try it on. Browse the model library.
What it is
Choose by a standard, not by hunting for the best.
- Good enough
- A short list of must-haves and a limit, written before you search.
- Satisficing
- Take the first option that meets the standard, instead of comparing everything.
Does it meet my standard? Then I am done.
When to reach for it
When the search has become the problem.
- A small purchase
- A mixer grinder, a pair of shoes, a bag.
- Too many tabs open
- Each new option restarts the comparison.
- Choices easy to undo
- Anything you can return or change next month.
An everyday example
A mixer grinder for a rented flat in Kochi.
- The endless search
- Fourteen models, three videos and two weeks, with no purchase.
- The better step
- Nikhil writes his standard in five minutes, before looking at one more model.
- What changes
- The fourth option meets all four. He orders it that evening and stops searching.
750 watts or more, three jars, a service centre, under 4,500.
The trap
Good enough is for small, reversible choices.
- Big, hard-to-undo choices
- A job, a long lease or a course fee can deserve a longer search.
- A standard that is only a limit
- Write the must-haves first and the limit second.
- A standard written after browsing
- It drifts toward what you already like. Write it before.
Try this today
One small decision and a pen.
- Write the standard first
- Take the first option that meets all of them, and stop looking.
What are my three must-haves and my one limit?