Widen Options

Say this

What's one more way to do this?

Do this now 4 min

Write the two options you're currently weighing. Now add a third — a genuinely different path, not a slight variation. Consider: What would someone in a completely different field do?

Use when

You're stuck choosing between two options and the debate feels gridlocked.

Avoid when

The decision is trivial or time-critical and adding options would only delay action.

Why it works

Most bad decisions start with a too-narrow frame — adding one option shifts the mind from defending a position to evaluating a field.

Binary choices — should I do A or B? — trigger a defensive mindset. You pick a side and argue for it. But the moment a third option enters the frame, something shifts: your brain moves from advocacy to evaluation. You stop defending a position and start comparing a field. Research consistently shows groups considering three or more options make better choices than those debating two, even when the third option gets rejected. If you genuinely can’t imagine a third path, your frame is too narrow to see the problem clearly.

Go deeper · 8 min read

Narrow Framing: Why Two Options Is Almost Always Too Few

When you're stuck choosing between two options, the problem is rarely that both are equally good. The problem is that the frame is too narrow to see what you're actually choosing between.