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Buridan's Ass, so named after John Buridan
(1300-1358), was introduced to me while listening to
Seth Godin on Diary of A CEO this last week.
(Have I been living under a rock? Should I know Seth
Godin?)
This is a philosophical thought experiment: a donkey
stands between two bales of hay that are the same size and
the same distance away. Will the donkey starve because it
cannot decide between the bales of hay?
Seth Godin introduced this experiment. In the parable, the
donkey would starve, incapable of deciding. Donkey has
analysis paralysis. He-haw, he-haw, always torn between
the hay :-)
Think of a time when you've been in a shop and you
are deciding between two identical products - same price,
same functions. How do you choose? I am embarrassed to
admit how much time I've spent on researching kettles
only to find my flat came with a hot tap.
All of this got me thinking about my own ambivalence which
seems to have gotten worse over the years (hormones I
suspect). Many people see ambivalence as not caring when
in fact its that you care, equally about either decision.
Often I am pulled between two different things, where
moving towards one means moving away from the other. This
means I remain stuck which looks like I can't make up
my mind when in fact I simply have not admitted the
trade-offs out loud.
Godin puts forward a small test to call out the trade-off
using the but test.
"I want X, but I want Y" and we
don't say the "but" bit out loud. We bury
it.
For example: I want a new job but I value
the stability. The donkey is equidistant between security
and challenging.
I want the familiarity of Ireland but I
don't want to move home.
Man - I love me a framework.
The next test he introduced is the
and test.
This is the trick that moves the decision into ownership
and gives you some sense of control.
"I want X and I ....."
If you can find the "and" underneath each one it
gives you something to own and work with. Once it's
an "and," you can look at it and go: do I
actually want this? Godin's line in the podcast is:
"the and amplifies the work, but undercuts
it."
For example: I want to stop feeding the AI machine
AND my most energized moments this year
have all been building tools using AI.
Closing
I am not suggesting this is going to help you with the
decisions that actually matter. It may help with kettle
buying in the future. That's the ceiling.
Who knows what happened to the donkey. Maybe he died or he
exercised his free will and just picked a goddam bale of
hay. In the meantime, I'll be standing here, between
two bales, working out what I actually want to admit out
loud.
Post 3/100DaysToOffload
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