"Why Do We Need Choices? Is More Always Better?"

This article is Lu Canwei's 121st original piece.

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Today, I took a regular Eastern Airlines flight and noticed it was quite different from the planes I usually fly on. Upon checking the model, I found it was an ARJ21, rather than the Airbus or Boeing we commonly use, which was quite interesting. I looked it up and discovered it is domestically produced.

This is the large domestic aircraft we have been hearing about, but I didn't expect it to already be in use in the market. This plane was designed by us, with some system components sourced from internationally mature products. So, can we consider it domestically produced? Or to put it another way, Google's Android system is modified based on Linux; does that count as independent research and development?

This is somewhat similar to how we conduct our business based on platforms like Taobao and Douyin. Once the rules of Taobao and Douyin change, our business will be affected. However, if we establish such a service based on our own tools, then we set the rules. As for which tools we use or whether we hire someone to develop them, that becomes a matter of choice versus lack of choice.

Choice

Why is the right to choose so important? The right to choose is one of the key factors in diversifying risk. If I currently have several offers on the table, I don't need to please any one of them; I just need to choose the one I like.

But if my income source is solely from my job, then I essentially have no choice. Once a black swan event occurs, such as a company going bankrupt or layoffs, I can easily find myself in a passive situation. Therefore, diversifying my income sources can prevent me from becoming passive, such as having side jobs or investments.

If I invest only in the A-share market, and the market environment turns unfavorable, I will also become passive. At this point, investing in Hong Kong stocks, U.S. stocks, cryptocurrencies, etc., can give me more choices.

So, is it better to have more choices? Not necessarily; too many choices often lead to having no choice at all, as one may not know how to choose or may feel that any choice is the same.

When we see one or two projects, we feel very positive and think we can choose one to try. However, if I am presented with ten options at once, I might end up focusing on how to choose rather than making a choice. This is also why some people advise us to focus, as having too many choices can be counterproductive.

Having many choices is not good, nor is having too few. So how should we choose?

In the long term, having more choices is better, while in the short term, having fewer is preferable. For example, I may have three suitable career paths A, B, and C for long-term development, but in the short term, I might only choose A, focusing on breaking through from 0 to 1 in three months. This is somewhat like a startup; in the short term, a startup's business should be as focused and streamlined as possible, but in the long term, a diversified strategy is necessary for the company to survive.

For instance, if I have 100 yuan and invest in different types of projects simultaneously, my research effort will be spread thin, resulting in several failed investments. If I concentrate my research effort on one project, I can devote several times the energy to that project.

Students just entering the workforce should focus on one point and aim for an 80% score. However, the investment and returns from moving from 80% to 90% are not significant. At this point, they can try to achieve 60% in other areas, making them a T-shaped talent compared to others, giving them a competitive advantage.

Integration Ability

When you become a T-shaped talent, what you need is not to execute every task yourself but to find 90% experts in each field. Taking the airplane example again, since there are already parts that can achieve 90%, why not use them? I can leverage my resource integration ability to create a competitive product.

In the past couple of years, there has been talk about low-end manufacturing moving to Vietnam and India, but in reality, it hasn't been able to move. Especially after the pandemic outbreak in India, a large number of textile orders have returned to China. These countries have very low labor costs, but why can't factories be relocated there?

China has a huge integration advantage; for example, the entire supply chain for a product is located domestically. If we simply move the manufacturing process elsewhere, it may seem like we are saving a significant amount of cost, but considering that the supply chain materials are still sourced domestically, along with logistics costs and the costs of training skilled personnel, the savings can be negligible—it's like picking sesame seeds and losing watermelons.

When you have the ability to integrate resources, you are the one with the right to choose. As for who fills this ecological niche, it doesn't matter. Just like being a cog in a machine, a company won't struggle to operate because of your departure; what defeats a company is failing to keep up with the times. Just like Nokia, which exited the competition simply because it couldn't keep up with the times.

In Conclusion

In an era of widespread harvesting, being a "human genius" is actually a manifestation of lacking choice. When I spend time organizing information that others have already sorted out to save a little money, I have already lost my right to choose in terms of time.

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