A loosely related learning for me has been trying to consider non-functional benefits when weighing the value of an experience (or at least, less obvious functional benefits). The classic example is whether spending $5 on a coffee at my local coffee shop is worth it when I can make it at home for under $1. My answer is that spending $5 on a coffee to go at a random Starbucks or Tim Hortons is probably not worth it (for me), but that spending $5 at the coffee shop on my street and sitting in is worth it. Benefits I get beyond just the coffee include the relationship I have with the barista, who knows me by name; the sense of place and connectedness to my community; the ambience which helps me to focus and calms me and is a nice break from my home; the variety in my day it creates; contributing to the sustenance of an independent business that I think enhances the neighbourhood I live in; the opportunity to people-watch that I don't get at home, etc.
When I consider those benefits, the $5 becomes a far better value than it might initially appear. I think being excessively miserly ("what is the cheapest away to achieve 1 core benefit of a coffee") is often short-sighted.
A loosely related learning for me has been trying to consider non-functional benefits when weighing the value of an experience (or at least, less obvious functional benefits). The classic example is whether spending $5 on a coffee at my local coffee shop is worth it when I can make it at home for under $1. My answer is that spending $5 on a coffee to go at a random Starbucks or Tim Hortons is probably not worth it (for me), but that spending $5 at the coffee shop on my street and sitting in is worth it. Benefits I get beyond just the coffee include the relationship I have with the barista, who knows me by name; the sense of place and connectedness to my community; the ambience which helps me to focus and calms me and is a nice break from my home; the variety in my day it creates; contributing to the sustenance of an independent business that I think enhances the neighbourhood I live in; the opportunity to people-watch that I don't get at home, etc.
When I consider those benefits, the $5 becomes a far better value than it might initially appear. I think being excessively miserly ("what is the cheapest away to achieve 1 core benefit of a coffee") is often short-sighted.