Studyportal

It’s Your Choice 6- Frame: The Role of Perception

Narrator-In today’s episode titled “look at it this way”, Nicole and Roger introduce the concept of the decision frame and explore the importance of perspective in determining the way you see a decision .They will talk about how to avoid a perspective not suited to the problem you’re trying to solve and they’ll share tools for identifying exploring which perspective could be most useful for developing your frame .

Narrator: Framing -the first link in our decision chain is the topic of today’s show. Picture frames and cameras are great things to think about when you’re tying to understand what we mean by framing your decision .

Nicole: It’s true it’s a lot like taking a picture. In both cases you need to know what you want to capture and why. Framing a decision is like finding the right subject to focus on. The frame for today’s show is recognizing the importance of perspective in defining our decision.

Roger: I’m thinking that by prospective mean how we look at a problem or point of view.

Nicole: Yes, It’s one of the keys to answer the question -What am I deciding ? It’ll also affect what you want from your decision and how do you go about creating alternatives and what information you feel you need.

Roger: It would help to have an example.

Nicole: You read my mind. Why don’t you and our viewers watch this video to see what I mean.

WHODUNNIT?

Detective: Clearly somebody in this room murdered Lord Smythe. Who? At precisely 3:34 this afternoon was bludgeoned to death with a blunt instrument. I want each of you to tell me your whereabouts at precisely the time that this dastardly deed took place.

Maid: I was polishing the brass in the master bedroom.

Butler: I was buttering his lordship’s scones below stairs, sir.

Lady Smthye: I was planting my petunias in the potting shed.

Detective: Constable, arrest Lady Smthye

Lady Smythe: But, but how did you know?

Detective: Madame, as any horticulturist will tell you one does not plant petunias until May is out, take her away. It’s just a matter of observation. The real question is how observant were you?

Roger: That’s wild. The only thing I noticed was the inspectors raincoat and even that was more of a funny feeling. I couldn’t have told you the original color only that it

seemed different .I wonder how many changes our viewers spotted

Nicole: Most people only catch a couple if any at all.

Roger: I was so focused on figuring out who the culprit was..

Nicole: But you didn’t notice most the changes.

Roger: But wasn’t I supposed to look for the perp

Nicole: Trap ,Roger, trap !

Roger: Huh?

Nicole: Sometimes others provide a frame that leads us to see things from the perspective they want. In this case , the title ,the scene and the inspector deliberately created a frame for you trying to make you think about the crime .

Roger; Well it worked on me. Hey , that seems like something advertisers would want to do.

Nicole: Totally! It’s sometimes called “Thrown Frame” because they throw the frame out at you and if you’re not paying attention you adopt perspective they want you to.

Roger: Well that’s pretty sneaky.

Nicole: and that’s not all. Even when there isn’t a thrown frame, we often just rely on her own experiences and look for things based on our own assumption it’s another decision trap called Selective Perception.

Roger :So since I didn’t expect things to change I didn’t notice when they did?

Nicole: Exactly

Roger: I’m feeling a little weird about this, thrown frames , selective perception. Seems like a lot to look out for.

Nicole: Yup. But now you know to watch out for them. There are limits to the number of things we can concentrate on at once and we’re all susceptible to traps from time to time.

Roger: Is there some way we can give our viewers more insight into this.

Nicole: Sure, here’s any exercise based of a story told about a fancy hotel in New York City .

Narrator: A large and very expensive hotel is getting continuing complaints from unhappy guests who are frustrated at how long they have to wait for the elevator you’ve been called in to consult on a solution to the problem . Take a moment to think about how this problem might be solved and write down some ideas you might recommend to the hotel management.

Roger : So our viewers have written their ideas, but what really happened at the hotel?

Nicole: The hotel invited two firms in to consult. One was an engineering firm and the other was an interior design firm. They each proposed solutions but they were quite different from each other.

Roger: So what happened?

Nicole: So the engineers recommended installing faster motors which cost about $750,000. Their report said this strategy would reduce the average waiting time from one minute to just over 40 seconds. This is acceptable to most customers from a survey the engineering firm did.

Roger: And what about the design firm?

Nicole: They recommended putting a large mirror and a potted plant at the elevator lobby on each floor at a cost about $45,000.

Roger: Huh? How did that speed up the elevators?

Nicole: It didn’t speed them up at all, it just made the customers less aware of the wait. The designers were concerned about how people felt about how long they waited, not how long they actually waited.

Roger: so what was the final decision?

Nicole: They went with the plants and mirrors. The customers were happy and the hotel saved a boatload of money.

Roger: You know never in a million years would I have thought of the mirrors and plants.

Nicole: Probably those engineers wouldn’t have either. Even the smartest people can suffer from having a perspective that’s too narrow.

Roger: Hmmm. This whole idea of getting stuck in a narrow perspective sounds suspiciously like another decision trap

Nicole: You’re catching on. This is related to a decision trap called anchoring. In practice what usually happens when you have a perspective that’s too narrow or not flexible is you get stuck on one point of view and don’t consider other ways of thinking about a problem and then this can lead to missing important information and alternatives.

Roger: So basically, if you get your frame wrong from the start , it can really mess up the rest of your thinking about your decision, but how can you avoid this?

Nicole: For one, you can use a tool like getting input from others who look at problems differently than you do or imagine how someone else might look at it. The most important thing is being flexible about your approach.

Narrator: Today we learned about the influence our perspective has on our expectations and perceptions. Often, what we see is what we expect to see and our point of view and expectations often determine what information we think is useful in making a decision. We learned about the traps of Thrown Frame Selective Perception and Anchoring and the importance of being flexible when determining your perspective.

Roger: From now, I’m going to be skeptical of advertisers who are trying to throw frames at me.

Nicole: Good

Roger: And interior designers who are trying to distract me with mirrors and plants.

Nicole: No, wait I think you’re missing the point here.

Roger: Depends on your point of view, doesn’t it.

Nicole: Aww, enough for today. See you next time on “It’s your choice”.

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It’s Your Choice 7- Frame: Scope – Sizing up the Decision

Narrator: In today’s, it’s your choice episode called “Size it up” Nicole and Roger continue to discuss framing a decision. Part of framing a decision is recognizing the scope, how large or small the decision really is. Sometimes the decision is much larger than it seems at first glance. Sometimes it is much smaller. Roger and Nicole will introduce you to a useful method for determining the importance and size of a decision called the hip check. Nicole: Hey Roger, you look a little stressed out. What’s on your mind? Roger: I can’t decide what to wear to my band’s concert tomorrow night.

Nicole: That stressing you out. Is that such a big deal?

Roger: Don’t you think it’s a big deal?

Nicole: Not really, but that’s not the point.

Roger: Well, clearly one of us is more stylish than the other.

Nicole: It’s just that not all decisions are worth stressing about. Some are bigger than others. Roger: Well, of course, but sometimes it’s hard to know which ones are more important than others. Nicole: That’s so true. One of the ways I try to figure this out is to imagine the different possible outcomes of a decision. Roger: Aww man. I know all about what happens when you don’t do that. One time last semester, my roommate and I spotted a sofa by the side of the road with a “free” sign on it, so we threw it in my buddy’s truck and brought it back to our dorm room. Nicole: You if they say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, Roger: Except it ended up being the furthest thing from a treasure.

Nicole: What do you mean?

Roger: We didn’t realize it at the time, but the sofa was disgusting. It stunk up my dorm room for a weeks. Nicole: Ugh,No wonder the owner was trying to get rid of it.

Roger: You’re telling me I learned my lesson the hard way that time. I should have thought more about what the possible outcomes of taking the sofa home could be and the consequences were way smellier than I imagined. Nicole: Sounds like you really messed up that time, Roger, but I’ve got a great tip for you to use in the future. Roger: A tip. Is it about what to wear tomorrow night? Nicole: No, but it might help you become better at recognizing the importance of a decision based on its possible outcomes. I learned this from my cohost from last year. She taught me about hip. If you need to figure out what a decision may mean for you, just run through HIP- H, how will things change? I-impact on just me or others too ,P-permanent or reversible. Roger: So the tip is HIP. So how does it work? Nicole: Let’s start with two pretty different examples. The first scenario , your boss has given you the responsibility of hiring an assistant and you’re unemployed best friend is begging you to hire him instead of interviewing for the best candidate. What do you do? The second scenario takes place on any given day. What do you wear to school ? H-The first letter in HIP- stands for how will things change? In other words, how will making a certain decision change my future and the opportunities I’ll face. To see how to use H think about the two examples I just described. Roger; Well, how would things change if I hired my best friend for the job? He could end up being a really lousy employee, which will reflect poorly on me and my boss would think less of me . Or he could be a great employee and my boss would highly regard my judgment. Or my boss could find out that I picked him just because they’re best friends, which would make me look really bad.

Nicole: And what about what you wear to school?

Roger: Let’s see. I want to look cool and impress all the ladies. So I’d wear something impressive.

Nicole: What if you wear suspenders and a bow tie?

Roger: Hmm..

Nicole: The possible outcomes of hiring your best friend outweigh social embarrassment. Considering how things will change, helps put into perspective the size of the decision you’re making. I -stands for impact and the need to ask yourself whether your decision impacts just you or others too.

Roger: So like what if I hire my best friend and he’s dealing with customers all day. They can be affected by his performance, good or bad, and I could also impact the company as a whole.

Nicole: That’s why the decision is so important because the potential outcome could impact the entire company and its customers, not just you. Roger: But with the what to wear example, I’m the only one who looks like a Dork. Nicole: Exactly, and remember, even with decisions that have positive impacts, the more people potentially affected, the greater the significance of the decision. P is for permanent or reversible. Roger: Oh, so like if my friend ends up being the worst employee ever, my boss may never trust my judgment again, and if I don’t hire him, he’ll definitely be mad at me and I may end up losing him as a friend. Nicole: And what about the outfit decision? Roger: Well, if I look like a loser at school for one day, I can just make it up by looking wicked cool the next Nicole: Right, some decisions we can never take back and their impact never goes away. So those decisions could potentially have even bigger outcome than significance. Roger: That all makes sense, but how do I use the information I discovered using HIP to help rate the significance of each decision? Nicole: on the screen, you should see two scales to assess the importance of each decision. The scales range from smaller decision to bigger decision. Let’s figure out where we should put our rating on each scale based on the HIP formula we just learned. Roger: I think I’m up to it. Nicole: When deciding whether or not to hire your best friend. You thought about how the decision could change your life, the impact that it would have on people other than yourself and the potential to lead to permanent outcomes. Roger: Hmm. Using those three criteria, it seems like a fairly important decision. Nicole: I would definitely agree with you.

Roger: and you were right. There’s no reason to sweat about what clothes to wear tomorrow. I can’t imagine how anything big will change in my life as a result of looking like Urkel. I’m really the only person who’s impacted and the decision is definitely not permanent since I can just wear my really cool outfit the next day. Nicole: Right. So what you’re telling me is that by using HIP, it became clear that the outcomes of this decision are pretty small, making this a less important decision than you originally thought. Roger: Yup. Definitely not a biggie, but wait- what if what I think is a big decision is just a small decision in somebody else’s eyes, like the decision whether or not to buy a new computer. Nicole: Explain. Roger: Suppose Bill Gates and I were both deciding to buy new computers and we each use the HIP method. I’m pretty sure we would come to different conclusions about the importance of the outcome. For good ole Bill buying a new computer would have a minimal change on his life. The cost to him is insignificant. For me, however, I would have to cough up my life savings. Clearly, buying a new computer would lead to very different outcomes. For the two of us. Nicole: You’re totally right, Roger. People have different ways of viewing the same decision. This is called “subjectivity”. The idea that people have different interpretations of the same event, so I may think what you wear to the concert is no big deal, but you may think differently. Narrator: See if you can apply HIP to the following decision. You’re deciding whether or not to get a huge tattoo of a snake on your arm. Use the HIP checklist to consider the possible outcomes. Remember, they can be positive or negative outcomes. Then indicate how important this decision is to you. Nicole: Here’s some things we came up with using the HIP checklist. H- I could get a nasty infection. I might not be able to get that customer service job I applied for. I can finally join that biker gang. Roger: I.-I will be the only one impacted by the tattoo. Though my family might have certain emotional responses as well. Nicole: P -A tattoo is essentially permanent and I’ll most likely have it forever. I can reverse it by getting it removed, but that’s a painful and annoying process and pretty expensive.

Narrator: Today on the show, we learned about a very helpful method for determining the size of the decision. We call this method HIP- H is for how will things change, I-for impact on just me or others too; P is for permanent or reversible. Roger: Your HIP tip is pretty cool. I always knew some decisions were bigger than others, but I never really thought about how to really determine the difference. If I stay HIP when thinking about a decision, then I’ll have no problem. Right?

Nicole: Roger that!

Roger: That’s not funny! Thanks for watching everyone and tune in next time to. It’s your choice.

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It’s Your Choice 8- Frame: Purpose, Scope, Sunk Cost Trap

Narrator: In today’s episode called, “What’s your problem?”, Nicole and Roger will discuss the importance of establishing purpose and scope as essential steps in framing a decision. They will also talk about sunk cost, a common trap that can undermine your decisions. Roger: Welcome to it’s your choice. I’m here with my cohost, Nicole. Nicole.

Nicole: Yes.

Roger: It’s time to start the show. The heck are you doing? Nicole: Oh, hi everyone. Sorry I’m so distracted. It’s just that I think I want to redecorate my room and it’s all I’ve been thinking about lately. Roger: Oh, okay. You’re obviously in need of some help. Nicole: No offense Roger, but you’re like the last person I would go to for interior design advice. Roger: I’m not going to make color choices for you, Nicole, but I can help you frame your decision.

Nicole: That would be a big help.

Roger: So why are you thinking of redecorating?

Nicole: I just hate my room.

Roger: What’s wrong with it?

Nicole: I don’t know everything.

Roger: If you don’t know what’s wrong with it, how will you know what the change?

Nicole: I don’t know?

Roger: Well, as today’s framing guru, I’m going to help you get to your purpose. So let’s go back to why you hate your room. What’s wrong with it? Nicole: Just something about it. It seems dark and dingy and has a tired feel to it and there really isn’t a good place to sit and do work.

Roger : Ah, I think we’re getting somewhere.

Nicole: Now that we’re talking about it. I think my reason for wanting to redecorate is to make my room a nicer place to hang out and a better place to study. Roger: That sounds a little better. And now that we’ve got a purpose, let’s talk about scope. Nicole: I always think of Goldie locks when I’m trying to scope out a decision.

Roger: Say what?

Nicole: When we determine scope, we’re defining our decisions so that it’s not too big, not too small, but just right for the problem we’re trying to solve. Roger: ah ha. I like to keep it simple. What’s in and what’s out.

Nicole: That would work.

Roger: So what’s your answer?

Nicole: That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.

Roger: Why don’t I keep asking questions? Maybe that’ll help you clarify things, Goldielocks. So have you thought about just moving to a more cheerful and brighter apartment? Nicole: Yeah, but I signed a lease for the year. I really liked the location and the rent is reasonable. Basically the apartment itself really works for me. Roger: Okay. It sounds like a major change, like moving isn’t within your scope, so just let me ask you another question. Why is it so bad for studying? Nicole: I mean the lighting could be better, but that’s only a small part of the problem. Roger: So it sounds like this is a bigger decision than just adding some more lights were already making some progress. You’ll remember this one from last year. It’s called the scope timeline. It helps you figure out when certain decisions need to be made so you can bring focus to your thinking.

Nicole: Oh yeah. The three questions. What’s already been decided? What needs to be decided now and what should be decided in the future? Roger: Yeah, so how does your timeline look for this one? Nicole: Let’s see. I’ve already signed a lease for this apartment, so moving is out and I’m only gonna be here for the rest of the year so it doesn’t make sense to make huge renovations. Roger: And how much money are you willing to spend? Nicole: I’ve already decided I’m not going to spend more than $200 on whatever change I make. Roger: So those decisions are done in the past. What decisions do you have to make now? Nicole: I need to think about what things I could easily change that will fix up my room without being too expensive. Like buying some posters or getting some cheerful pillows.

Roger: Well that gives you some focus.

Nicole: and it also helps me recognize that I don’t need to decide what to do with my futon after I graduate. That decision is for the future. Roger: You. You have a futon? Nicole: Yeah. Last time I was home I bought this cute Futon for 30 bucks. Roger: No Way. I just saw that the guy next door to me is selling his futon for 40 bucks. Nicole: Ah. Well my futon is still at home. I’m working on a way to bring it back to school. I already looked into getting it delivered. It’s going to cost me 50 bucks. Roger: Wait, you should just buy the one from the guy next door to me. It’s in great shape. Nicole: I’m not going to buy another futon I already paid for one. It makes more sense for me to have the one I already owned delivered. Roger: Nicole.

Nicole: What?!

Roger: Trap! Nicole: You’re right. It’s sunk cost and it got me again. Roger: It’s a tough one, isn’t it? People often feel like they have to use the products they’ve paid for or continue doing something they’ve invested a lot of time in or else they’ll be throwing away money or time, but they’re missing the point. The money’s already gone. Nicole: Rather than focusing on the 30 bucks I already spent for the Futon at home. I should’ve been thinking about whether I wanted to spend 50 bucks to get it here or 40 bucks for your neighbors. Roger: It’s just so easy to forget to stop for a moment and think about what you’re thinking. Like last night I ordered a mega burger for dinner and about three quarters of the way through I was completely stuffed, but because I paid five bucks for that big boy, I forced myself to finish the entire thing even though I knew it would make me feel sick. Nicole: But the money was already spent the second you bought the burger, so it really didn’t matter if you finished it or not. Roger: Exactly. It helps to think about the money you would pay from this point on and ask yourself, what do you really want? Would you rather shell out less money and have more in your wallet or feel like you haven’t wasted the money that you already spent. Nicole: When you put it that way? Of course, I want to spend less money for the same thing. It’s just a

tough one to get my head around. Roger: I know, and that’s why so many people fall into this trap. The best tool you can use is to focus on the future. Nicole: Before I buy anything, I want to make sure I’m clear on how I frame this problem. Roger: Okay. Let’s start with how big of a decision is this?

Nicole: I’m looking for a change and I’m willing to spend a decent amount of money on it. This will mostly impact me because it will put a dent in my savings, but it should hugely affect my mood when I’m in the apartment and make me want to spend more time there and while it isn’t really permanent, I’m not going to redecorate before I move out at the end of the year using HIP, I realized that this is a moderately important decision for me. Roger: Nicely done. And how about the head heart considerations as we discussed in thinking of a feeling? Nicole: I see a lot of head issues, like how much is it going to cost me and will it be worth the investment of time and money, but there’s also a lot of heart and this for me, which I didn’t expect. I’m hoping that I will feel happier if my room is a more comfy place to study. It’s head and heart and I need to consider both. Roger: How about the amount of time you’re willing to spend on this? Nicole: This is a midsize decision, so I think a few hours over the weekend will give me plenty of time to think and I’ll have to allow time to shop for anything I decide to buy. I don’t want to take too much time because the later we get in the school year, the less valuable the project will be to me. Roger: And have you considered the best perspective for this decision? Nicole: Yeah, I know that whatever I do is ultimately my choice, but I do have to consider the views of my landlord and roommates. Roger: Good start. Finally, Nicole, are you fit to make this decision? Nicole: Yes, I am fit, but as my friend thanks for asking Narrator: Today on “ It’s your choice” we talked about defining your purpose and scope as critical parts of developing your approach to a decision. We introduced the scope timeline which helps identify what you need to focus on now. We also saw some examples of sunk cost and how to avoid it by focusing on the future and we reviewed all the steps necessary to develop a helpful frame for a decision. Roger: You have to admit I just saved you from committing some pretty serious mistakes and gave you a great tip on where to find a cheap futon.

Nicole: True. You did really helped me today by talking me through the whole framing process. Roger: Hey, I’m always here to help. Nicole: Thanks Roger. Because once I make my decision I’ll need help moving things and possibly painting. Roger: but I only “meant” decision help. Nicole: Too late. Join us next time on. It’s your choice.

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It’s Your Choice 9 Frame Who is Involved in the Decision and How Much Time Transcript

It’s Your Choice 9 – Frame: Who is Involved in the Decision and How Much Time

Narrator: On today’s episode, whose decision is it, we’ll review the key components of the decision frame and highlight two factors that add complexity, who is involved with the decision and how much time to spend making the decision. Nicole: Today is our last show on the framing link. We’re using it to do a quick review of the three components of a decision frame and highlight some things that make framing a decision tricky. Roger: Okay then let’s do it. The three main components of a decision frame are purpose, perspective and scope. Perspective is where you stand in relation to a decision. Your perspective affects your ability to predict what might happen as a result of your decision. Scope identifies the appropriate size and boundaries of a decision. We can use the HIP check to help us size up the scope of a decision. Nicole: Purpose is about getting clear on what it is you’re trying to achieve through this decision. Roger: You know, Nicole, when you think about it, this whole purpose thing runs right back into perspective. I mean, how many times are we so focused on what we want out of a decision that we don’t see the unwanted things we’re likely to get, or even who else might be really effected by our choice? Nicole: Yep. Like I said, there’s some real life things that make framing decision trickier than framing a poster and figuring out just who is involved in the decision, let alone who will be affected by it is certainly one of those things. Here’s the video that illustrates this point.

Nicole:Whose decision is it? Meet Kayla. She just got back from the deli where she ordered this delicious liverwurst sandwich. What doesn’t sound good to you? Well, the thing is that it’s her decision, whether you like her sandwich or not, doesn’t really matter because you won’t be eating it, and since this is a video, you won’t even have to smell it. Choosing what to eat for lunch is pretty much an individual decision. You may want to consider the impact the decision will have on other people, but for the most part, whoever’s buying and eating the food gets to make the choice, but not all decisions are as simple as ordering lunch. Nicole: Many of them have a significant impact on other people, so it’s worthwhile to think about who is involved and the role they’ll play in the decision process. Like this year, Kayla is deciding where to go to college. At first she thought she was the only decision maker since she’s the one filling out the application and sending in her transcript, but this is really a shared decision. Her parents have offered to pay half of her tuition, so if they don’t approve of her decision, they might not help her pay and if they don’t help pay, she’ll have a hard time coming up with the money for school. While it might not have seemed so at first they also own the decision. If someone has a major stake in your decision, it’s worth asking if they’re also decision makers. In this case, because Kayla can’t really afford college on her own, it makes sense for her to share the decision with her parents. Kayla’s boyfriend on the other hand, has a different role. Kayla knows he’ll be impacted by this decision. If she stays close by, they’ll see each other a lot and probably continue their relationship, but if she goes across the country and doesn’t see him as

often, they probably won’t. The thing is that while he will be affected and she cares what he thinks, he really isn’t a decision maker. Nicole: Then there are other people who are somewhat involved in this decision, like Kayla asked her friends where they’re all going to college because it’s important to her to be able to visit them. She solicited their advice, because she wants their opinions. But she’s also finding with this college stuff, everyone has an opinion, some she wants and some that she doesn’t. For example, this is her older sister, Amanda, who has decided that Kayla needs to go to the same school as her. She didn’t ask for her sister’s advice because they’re so different, and yet Amanda seems to think that she should make Kayla’s decision for her. It’s funny because about a week ago, Amanda came to Kayla and wanted to know if she should break up with that jerk she’s dating and Kayla was like, um, yeah, but then she didn’t. At first Kayla was mad at her, but then she realized that the decision is Amanda’s and not hers. Kayla just wishes her sister would come to the same realization about her role in Kayla’s college choice. Sometimes it’s just as important to recognize when you’re not the decider as when you are. Roger: So I guess one of the things we’re hoping our viewers will get from this Kayla story is how important it is to sort out the roles of all the people who land inside your decision frame. Who has a real vote in the decision, who has an opinion worth considering, who it might be ok to ignore. Nicole: Paying attention to who’s inside your decision frame and what role each person has in the decision is an important part of checking the scope, perspective and purpose of your decision, but paying

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