Satisficing was a term coined by Nobel-prize winning economist Herbert Simon for a decision-making strategy that combines satisfaction and sufficing. Put simply it means selecting the first choice that meets your predetermined criteria rather than continuing to search for the optimal choice.

In the book The Paradox of Choice (Why more is less), author Barry Schwartz gives an excellent and well-researched account of the negative impact that excessive choice has on our wellbeing. He strongly recommends satisficing when making personal decisions so as to be more satisfied in life. For a teaser of the book (which doesn’t do the book justice) he has written this ChangeThis.com manifesto: ‘The Paradox Of Choice’ manifesto

By comparison, Matthew E. May – author of the book The Elegant Solution has a must-read ChangeThis.com manifesto on innovation that calls satisficing the fourth of the ‘Seven Sins of Solution’ – sufficing causes innovators to accept a ‘good enough’ solution rather than pushing through to find the best: The ‘Mind Of The Innovator’ manifesto

So – when making a personal decision, satisfice. When solving a problem, optimise / maximise.