Breder.org

Beyond Better Or Worse

The question of “is X better than Y?” dramatically depends on how we measure.

There are many dimensions that one can consider.

It's likely that for two different people, the dimensions they consider the most important differ.

Such being the case, it's possible that two well-intentioned rational individuals reach different conclusions even when presented with the exact same information: the weights they attribute to each of trade offs is different.

But there's one trap that I find often lead to the wrong conclusion: bias towards familiarity.

The human default will always be to prefer and accept the way things are now and always have been -- even if change potentially brings a substantial and measurable improvement.

The correct approach is not to always prefer change either. Change for change's sake is pointless. Unfamiliar territory comes with transition costs, unforeseen risks and problems, and many unknowns.

The best approach for change, when possible, is to set up small experiments which help validate if the observed upsides indeed match or surpass the transition costs.

Do come up with the particular dimensions you are measuring and objectively compare both approaches, giving a fair shot for the better approach to prove its worth.