satisfice

Satisficing is a decision-making strategy in which an agent seeks an outcome that is good enough rather than the best possible option. The term, a blend of “satisfy” and “suffice,” was popularized by Herbert A. Simon in the mid-20th century as part of his theory of bounded rationality. Under bounded rationality, decision makers have limited information, limited time, and limited computational capacity, so they search for a solution that meets an acceptable threshold instead of exhaustively evaluating all alternatives. The process often involves stopping the search once a satisfactory option is found.

In practice, satisficing is common in personal choices and organizational decision making. It is used across economics, psychology, management science, and artificial intelligence to describe how real agents cope with complexity. Examples include selecting the first restaurant that meets minimum standards, or hiring the first candidate who satisfies essential requirements. Proponents argue that satisficing can yield effective outcomes under constraints and reduce decision effort. Critics note that fixed thresholds can bias results, that persisting with a suboptimal option can entrench mediocrity, and that in some settings additional information and computation can enable near-optimal or optimal decisions.