ORGS 4560 Lecture 25: ORGS 4560 Lecture 25
28 Apr 2018
School
Department
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ORGS 4560
Lecture 25
• The Principle of Consistency: People align with their clear
commitments
o Make their commitments active, public, and voluntary
o Commitments have a powerful effect on future actions
o Individuals feel obligate to live up to their commitments
because those commitments are active, public, and voluntary
o A choice made actively (spoken out loud, or written down or
otherwise made explicit) is considerably more likely to direct
someone’s future conduct than the same choice left unspoken
▪ GET THINGS IN WRITING (can be in the form of a memo
after a commitment is made)
o Witten statements even more powerful when they are made
public
o Most people wish to appear consistent to others
o Samuel Butler: “He that complies against his will/Is of his own
opinion still” – explains why commitments must be voluntary to
be lasting and effective
o Employees has to want to improve on their own, improvement
cannot be forced or threatened
• The Principle of Authority: People defer to experts
o Expose your expertise; don’t assume it’s self-evident
o Roman poet Virgil “Believe an expert”
o Expert views shift public opinion
o Well selected experts offer valuable and efficient short-cut to
good decisions
