Scientific Definition
Once we say it publicly, we'll defend it past the data.
Plain-English Definition
Once we say it publicly, we'll defend it past the data.
Feynman Explanation
The deck you presented becomes the deck you have to defend.
Core Principle
Once we say it publicly, we'll defend it past the data.
Mechanisms
Once we say it publicly, we'll defend it past the data.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
The deck you presented becomes the deck you have to defend.
Examples
- A leader who announced a strategy in Q1 finds it nearly impossible to abandon by Q3.
- Public commitments calcify into immovable strategy.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Build in scheduled re-evaluations. Publicly. With kill criteria pre-defined.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Build in scheduled re-evaluations. Publicly. With kill criteria pre-defined.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
We overweight whoever has the bigger title in the room.
Adopting beliefs because the room already did.
Spending disproportionate energy on trivial decisions.
Diffused responsibility means nothing happens.
Forgetting what it's like not to know what you know.
Assuming everyone secretly agrees with us.
Their failure: character. Our failure: situation.
Low expectations produce low performance.
One strong trait colors judgment of unrelated traits.
We extend more trust, benefit of the doubt, and rope to 'our people.'
We're more persuaded by people we like.
We see 'them' as more uniform than 'us.'