#115: Learning to let go

One reason why the nonsense at work gets out of control is that most of us have a tendency to stay stuck in the past.

We hang on too long when things begin to look bad, instead of letting go. We stay committed to a course of action even when negative feedback warns us that we should not. Here are four reasons why we do this:

(1) we have a tendency to seek out information that supports our own argument, and to discount information that does not;
(2) we have a tendency to distort any new information so that it appears more in line with our initial thinking;
(3) we don’t want to lose face if we were publicly involved with the initial decision; and
(4) my favorite, the sunk-cost trap – we tend to hang in because of money that we have already spent.

The surest way to get unstuck is to stop this nonsense by updating your initial beliefs in the face of new information.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am