The big idea: is being ‘good enough’ better than perfection?

Before making another new year resolution it’s worth asking if change is what you need

It wasn’t until I’d finished reading a fourth article ranking “the best wellies for children” that it dawned on me that maybe I could be doing something better with this precious time on Earth. Many websites use a five-star rating to rank the boots, just as one might rate films or albums or restaurants. These ratings, though subjective and often fickle, take on a life and meaning of their own. A spiteful customer can sink a small business with one-star online reviews. I wouldn’t buy a three-star welly, even though it’s not clear how much anyone should expect from a rubber boot.

The American psychologist Barry Schwartz observed that faced with apparently endless consumer choice, people respond in two ways. “Satisficers” are happy to pick a good enough option and are unlikely to spend their free time reading hundreds of product reviews, but “maximisers” feel compelled to make the best possible choice. This means the more choices they are offered, the worse off they are: an expansion of possibilities makes decision-making harder and regret the more likely outcome. Studies suggest that maximisers often do better professionally – in this sense, their high standards pay off – but even then they feel worse. Maximisers tend to be less happy, and more prone to depression and negative social comparison.