More Choice is Not as Desirable as we Hoped w/ Sheena Iyengar

In this episode, Adam talks with Sheena Iyengar on the day of her new book launch “Think Bigger”, on the subject of the paradox of choices and creativity. It’s a sort of follow-up to the episode on the JOLT effect with Ted McKenna, who quotes her work extensively - so we are going back to the source here. 

Sheena is the S. T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Department at Columbia Business School and the best-selling author of The Art of Choosing (2010) - that’s where the Paradox of Choice comes from. She is a leading expert on the study of innovation, choice, leadership, and creativity and regularly consults with a range of organizations on methods for innovation. Her book “Think Bigger: How to Innovate” details her six-step problem-solving method - it’s now out - and our discussion took place on the day of recording, 11 April 2023 

Sheena talks about how too many choices can paralyze us, referring to her famous jelly experiment. Her work on this led he to think about innovation and creativity, and how it follows on from the “choice dilemma”

As Sheena describes: ‘ “Think Bigger” is a toolkit that you can use to do two things, it can help you figure out what of a whole bunch of choices are better. And if there is no good choice, how do you create a good one?‘

A fascinating insight into one of today’s most important thinkers, this podcast is a great companion for execs thinking about innovation, and guiding customers to the right choice