Satisficing – (verb) Pursuing the minimum acceptable results or outcome because that decision is familiar, hassle-free, and requires the least investigation.

Herbert Simon first coined the term in 1956.

The difference between satisficing and iterating is the idea of permanence.

When you satisfice, you’ve accepted an end-state far less than ideal. In other words, you’ve given up on learning or doing more because you’ve conscientiously decided this is where you stop.

When iterating, you accept a less-than-ideal starting state, with plans to continually improve beyond it. You choose to continue and do more.

Iterating implies growth. Satisficing indicates an endpoint that is good enough.

We all face times and decisions where satisficing is alluring. There is so much coming our way that it’s almost inevitable – whether we know it or not. What could be one thing where you might be choosing to satisfice? And is that not as high a priority for you as the things you are actively iterating on?

References and Resources

Steve Portigal – Interviewing Users: I first ran across the term “satisfice” in this book.

More details are here.

Note: Originally posted on January 4, 2018 – this is the 3rd version of this post.