Optimizing Do-Nothing

February 23, 2010

More and more researchers are discovering the importance of understanding the effects of default options. In everything from business marketing, to signing up for workplace benefits, or charting your educational path, the default choice (or more specifically, the choice to take no action) has a huge and disproportionate impact on the outcome.

Marketers will give you tons of stuff for free if you will sign up for something, even though you have the option to cancel your subscription at any time, even before the first payment.
Businesses are optimizing their benefits from savings plans to health insurance options so that the default choice selection will be optimized for most people.

One only needs to look at the federal government to see the downside of poorly structured default options. Many of the paths we are riding on from social security, health care, infrastructure maintenance, and more are headed for train wrecks, but choosing to do nothing always wins.

So what can you do? Structure your life, your business, your routines, and everything else you have control of so that the default routine is the best.

-- Greg