Sorting through some old work papers the other day I came across an item which was obviously originally posted on a forum somewhere. Sadly I hadn’t noted the source or the author. However reading it struck a chord so here is a (slightly edited) version, with apologies to whoever the original author was!

There is an interesting corollary to the “fog of war” which I [the original author] came across in Robert Cialdini’s Influence.

In a chapter on “Commitment and Consistency” he quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson:

A foolish consistency is the Hobgoblin of little minds.
Usually we think consistency is a good thing, but the foolish rigid variety is not. Now, automatic consistency is really useful most of the time, since we often need to be able to behave in appropriate ways without thinking. A dilemma. And the only way out is to know when such consistency is likely to lead to poor choice. Cialdini says there are two separate signals to help tip us off.

The first occurs in the pit of our stomach when we realize we are trapped in to complying with something we know we didn’t want to do. It’s probably happened to you a hundred times. Cialdini recounts his experience with a young woman carrying a clipboard who knocked on his front door. She tells him she’s conducting a survey. And he, wanting to make a favourable impression on the young woman, stretched the truth in his answers to her “survey” questions. Then using his answers against him, she tells him that she “can save him up to 1200 dollars” if he joins the club membership she is selling. “Surely someone as socially vigorous as yourself would want to take advantage of the tremendous savings our company can offer on all the things you’ve already told me you do!” she says. And he, feeling trapped, feels his stomach tighten. He actually complied with her request although he defends himself saying that it was before he started his study of influence.

The second is not so clear. It’s in your “heart of hearts” and can be heard in answering the tricky question: “Knowing what I know now, if I could go back in time, would I have made the same choice?” Sometimes circumstances change, and with those changes, is your original decision still valid? Changing your mind or acting inconsistently with your previous actions is not indecisiveness. If the answer to the knowing-what-I-know-now question is “No” then reversing or changing your position is the responsible thing to do. This strategy can help tremendously when re-evaluating those sunk cost decisions. Especially for revisiting decisions to continue with projects that may no longer be viable.

I try not to tie my ego to my original position, and remember that it’s okay to change my mind.

Moral: know when to change your mind!