What does it mean that satisficing versus maximizing?

For most decisions good enough is better than perfect because the search cost exceeds the improvement.

Example: You need a new project management tool. A maximizer evaluates every option — Asana, Monday, Linear, Notion, Jira, ClickUp, Basecamp, Height, Shortcut — reads comparison articles, watches demos, starts free trials, asks colleagues, reads Reddit threads, and three weeks later picks one but keeps wondering if another would have been better. A satisficer defines criteria upfront (must have: Kanban boards, GitHub integration, under $10/seat), evaluates tools until one clears every threshold, and starts using it that afternoon. The maximizer's tool might be 5% better on some axis. The satisficer shipped three weeks of work in the meantime.

Try this: Pick a decision you've been delaying. Write down three to five criteria that define 'good enough' — the minimum threshold an option must clear. Now evaluate your options against only those criteria. The first option that passes all of them is your answer. Commit to it for 30 days before reconsidering. Track whether the decision quality actually suffered compared to your usual exhaustive process.