Exploring vs Exploiting: My Potbelly’s Experience

During college, I frequently walked by a Potbelly’s sandwich shop on my way to class. At the time, I thought it a place for sororities girls and other people. The decorum didn’t speak to me; my friends weren’t demanding I try it. If I was in the area and hungry, I typically opted for a tried and true option, somewhere I’d certainly be satisfied. Why risk a bland meal?

One day, perhaps a month shy of graduating, I was nearby a Potbelly’s and hungry. It was right there. I figured “What the hell, let’s explore”. Not knowing what to order, I asked an employee what they’d get: “A Wreck on multi-grain” was suggested. I watched him whip one up and send it through the oven. The toasted multigrain-cheese-meat fusion that emerged looked tasty. They balanced out the sandwich by adding the remaining fixings and rang me up.

I grabbed a table, sat down and unwrapped the sandwich—moment of truth!

IT. WAS. DELICIOUS.

Uhh….You mean to tell me I could have been eating Wrecks this whole time? How many hundreds of heavenly sandwiches over the years had I unknowingly foregone? And in 30 short days, I’d start a my career in a city that had no Potbelly’s. How many Wrecks could I shovel down my gullet before leaving?

This event opened a new line of inquiry. Why hadn’t I discovered the sandwich earlier? What was wrong with my mental process? I should have discovered the sandwich sooner. But what was wrong with my previous method (which worked very well) for selecting highly reliable restaurants?

I came across a phrase later in life that incapsulated my college mistake: Risk is both the potential for losses, but also, gains foregone. It’s the second part that matters here. What I came to understand was that the flaw (or risk) was in relying on my most favored options all too often.

Since then I’ve changed a bit. Today it’s not always about a bird in the hand. There needs to be exploration mixed in. It’s worth mapping out the environment even if you have to kiss a few toads. I need to be willing to stomach a few average meals so I might one day stumble upon a new favorite.

But this is really a story about trying exploring (trying new things). I’m sure there’s a mathematical way to represent an ideal ratio of exploring vs exploiting, but that’s beyond my scope (ideal secretary hiring). I was doing too much exploiting what I knew and too little exploring. The main thing is you should allocate more than 0 resources to exploring, whether it be in restaurants, work, personal life, etc. This is perhaps more easily visualized through my restaurant example, but it applies to many domains of life.

Nietzsche: Those who prefer a handful of certainty to a whole cartload of beautiful possibilities.

So it’s the same way with coffee, ear plugs for sleep, recipes, workout routines, different vendors at work, different chemicals.

I’m not arguing for trying new things just to try new things. This is about real value out there you need to seek out. But you have to accept the duds, kiss a few frogs.