Coaching practices for Am I a Maximizer
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Am I a Maximizer, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I don’t even notice I’ve spiraled until I’m forty reviews deep and exhausted, telling myself I’m just being careful
- I made my choice and it’s honestly fine, but my mind won’t stop circling back to the one that got away and how it might’ve been better
- I pour the same agonizing effort into picking a toothpaste as into a real life decision, and by the time something that matters comes along my capacity to decide well is already spent on trivia.
- Even after I decide, I can’t let it rest
- I say "this is yours" but the moment it starts wobbling I swoop in and take it back, and I’m realizing that hovering and rescuing tells people they were never really trusted to own it
Practices that may help
- Spot your maximizer tells
Learn the signals that you’re maximizing a decision that doesn’t deserve it.
Satisficing vs. Maximizing: When “Good Enough” Wins - Satisficing vs. Maximizing: When “Good Enough” Wins
Satisficing — a term coined by Herbert Simon — means choosing the first option that meets your criteria, while maximizing means searching for the best possible option. Research by Barry Schwartz and colleagues found that people who habitually maximize tend to make objectively slightly better choices yet report lower satisfaction, more regret, and worse well-being — so for most everyday decisions, "good enough" wins. - Practice gratitude for what you chose
Counter maximizer regret by actively appreciating the option you took.
Satisficing vs. Maximizing: When “Good Enough” Wins - Choose maximize or satisfice per decision
Reserve maximizing for the few high-stakes, lasting choices; satisfice the rest.
Satisficing vs. Maximizing: When “Good Enough” Wins - Satisfice instead of maximize
Choose the option that meets your criteria rather than searching for the theoretically best one.
The Mindset of Enough: Contentment Without Complacency - Invest in people’s ownership: give stakes and stay back
Multipliers give full ownership and hold people responsible; Diminishers over-resource and under-trust.
Multipliers: How Leaders Amplify the Intelligence Around Them - Multipliers: How Leaders Amplify the Intelligence Around Them
Liz Wiseman’s research found that the best leaders — Multipliers — extract far more capability from their people than average leaders do, not by being smarter, but by creating conditions where others’ intelligence can fully operate. Diminishers, the opposite, may be brilliant and well-intentioned but systematically suppress the thinking around them. The research is interview-based across multiple organizations — observational, not experimental — but the mechanisms align with well-established research on autonomy, self-efficacy, and psychological safety. - Become a talent magnet: attract and deploy people at their best
Multipliers find what people do naturally well and put them in conditions where that genius is essential.
Multipliers: How Leaders Amplify the Intelligence Around Them - Modify and Magnify
Ask: what happens if you make an element bigger, smaller, faster, slower, stronger, or weaker?
SCAMPER: A Systematic Creativity Technique - Resist the pull to optimize parameters when structure is the problem
Notice when you are adjusting numbers and ask whether the structure is the actual problem.
Leverage Points
Related concerns
- Maximizer Tendency
Learn the signals that you’re maximizing a decision that doesn’t deserve it.
Spot your maximizer tells
- Satisficing Vs Maximizing When Good Enough Wins At Work
Satisficing — a term coined by Herbert Simon — means choosing the first option that meets your criteria, while maximizing means searching for the best possible option. Research by Barry Schwartz and colleagues found that people who habitually maximize tend to make objectively slightly better choices yet report lower satisfaction, more regret, and worse well-being — so for most everyday decisions, "good enough" wins.
- Satisficing Vs Maximizing When Good Enough Wins When Overwhelmed
Satisficing — a term coined by Herbert Simon — means choosing the first option that meets your criteria, while maximizing means searching for the best possible option. Research by Barry Schwartz and colleagues found that people who habitually maximize tend to make objectively slightly better choices yet report lower satisfaction, more regret, and worse well-being — so for most everyday decisions, "good enough" wins.
- Satisficing Vs Maximizing When Good Enough Wins When Starting Out
Satisficing — a term coined by Herbert Simon — means choosing the first option that meets your criteria, while maximizing means searching for the best possible option. Research by Barry Schwartz and colleagues found that people who habitually maximize tend to make objectively slightly better choices yet report lower satisfaction, more regret, and worse well-being — so for most everyday decisions, "good enough" wins.
- Satisficing Vs Optimizing
Satisficing — a term coined by Herbert Simon — means choosing the first option that meets your criteria, while maximizing means searching for the best possible option. Research by Barry Schwartz and colleagues found that people who habitually maximize tend to make objectively slightly better choices yet report lower satisfaction, more regret, and worse well-being — so for most everyday decisions, "good enough" wins.
- Maximin Strategy Decision
Choose the option whose worst plausible outcome is most survivable — when you can’t compute expected value, optimize the floor.
Use maximin reasoning for high-stakes, irreversible decisions under ambiguity
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.