Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is for when you are making a decision with
Speaker 1: family or friends, don't assume that consensus is best. Instead
Speaker 1: of settling for the lowest common denominator, consider taking turns
Speaker 1: choosing so that everybody gets their top choice. From time
Speaker 1: to time, so many of us sometimes find ourselves needing
Speaker 1: to make a collective decision about what everyone is going
Speaker 1: to do. What's a movie that everyone can enjoy for
Speaker 1: family movie night? Maybe you are trying to please your
Speaker 1: active toddler, your elementary schooler who's into Pixar, your middle
Speaker 1: schooler who's a diehard Harry Potter fan, your mother in
Speaker 1: law who likes classic musicals, and your partner who just
Speaker 1: wants everyone to stay put for the entire time. What
Speaker 1: books should you read for book club next month? When
Speaker 1: members have different tastes and different schedules. Where should you
Speaker 1: go for your monthly girls' night out this month when
Speaker 1: people are coming from different directions and have a variety
Speaker 1: of tastes and budgets. We've all been in situations like
Speaker 1: these where you may be able to reach a consensus
Speaker 1: through collective decision making, but that process doesn't necessarily lead
Speaker 1: to an option that everyone is thrilled with, even if
Speaker 1: it is satisfactory to everyone. A lot of people have
Speaker 1: a working assumption that consensus is the way to go,
Speaker 1: but that may not always be the best way to
Speaker 1: maximize happiness. Over time, you may find yourself at the
Speaker 1: same inoffensive restaurant for every girl's Night and watching Mary
Speaker 1: Poppins over and over again. So instead of aiming for
Speaker 1: consensus every time, consider taking turns and letting everyone choose
Speaker 1: exactly what they want. When it is their turn. You
Speaker 1: choose the movie this week, your little guy the week
Speaker 1: after that, then the elementary schooler, the middle schooler, your
Speaker 1: mother in law, then your husband. Then it is your
Speaker 1: turn again. Everybody will broaden their viewing experience, and you
Speaker 1: may discover movies that you never would have tried otherwise.
Speaker 1: For your book club, all the members could take turns
Speaker 1: choosing the book At a small plates restaurant. If each
Speaker 1: person orders the two or three dishes they are most
Speaker 1: excited about, and then you share them all, it tends
Speaker 1: to work out. Of course, you can set parameters for
Speaker 1: these choices. Maybe all book Club picks need to be
Speaker 1: under four hundred pages. Family movie night might be limited
Speaker 1: to G or PG options. Restaurants for girls' night out
Speaker 1: might need to fit within a certain budget per person.
Speaker 1: But within these parameters, when it is your turn to choose,
Speaker 1: you get to choose freely. The upside of this method
Speaker 1: is that people tend to choose things that they think
Speaker 1: are actually good when they get a free choice. Do
Speaker 1: I think this movie is or will be amazing is
Speaker 1: an entirely different question than do I think five people
Speaker 1: with different interests won't all hate this movie? Amazing raises
Speaker 1: the possibility of the choice being something really cool, even
Speaker 1: if it isn't what you would have picked. Sometimes consensus
Speaker 1: yields a decision that everyone can deal with, but no
Speaker 1: one loves. When multiple options can be pursued over time,
Speaker 1: taking turns can lead to more satisfaction. You know you
Speaker 1: will be thrilled with the option every time your turn
Speaker 1: rolls around, and something unexpected might delight you when it
Speaker 1: is someone else's turn. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b the number four then Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts.
Speaker 1: At iHeartMedia that before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio.
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