Change Your Decision
The 'Change Your Decision' maxim advises against waiting for information that will not alter the final course of action, preventing unnecessary delays and wasted resources by focusing on actionable data.
THE IDEA
The "Change Your Decision" maxim advises against delaying action for information that cannot affect what you do.
The core question to ask is: "What would I do differently if I had that information?" If the answer is "nothing," the information is not worth pursuing.
Examples from the Text
College Admissions (Illustration): Students wait to hear from all colleges, even their least favorite, whose decision they already know won't affect their ultimate choice. This causes unnecessary stress.
Government Work (Alice Heath): When officials requested additional data (e.g., age profiles of clients served), Alice would filter the request by asking, "What might we do differently if we had that information?" If the answer was nothing, collecting the information wasn't worth the time.
COVID-19 Testing (Craig White): When Craig's wife tested positive, his family insisted everyone be tested. Craig reasoned that regardless of the test result, the family would quarantine for fourteen days. Since the test would provide no useful information to change their behavior, he decided not to get tested.
Emergency Surgery (Richard's Mother): A surgeon wanted to keep Richard's mother in the hospital overnight to run more tests. Richard asked if the surgeon would operate regardless of the test results. When the surgeon said yes, Richard argued they should operate immediately. The surgeon operated, finding a leaky appendix and peritonitis. Waiting another day would have been dangerous. The surgeon noted that no one had ever taught him this maxim.
When to use it
A product manager checks whether further feedback or an A/B test could change the decision to ship, revise, or withhold a feature before deciding whether to wait.
A doctor deciding whether to treat a patient based on a strong clinical presentation rather than waiting for confirmatory lab results that won't change the treatment protocol.
A job seeker considers whether any plausible offer from another company would change the choice before delaying acceptance of the current offer.
A manager deciding to reject a report request from a stakeholder if the report cannot influence the budget or strategy currently under review.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Government Data Collection
Alice Heath, a teaching assistant, used this maxim in government work. When an official asked for an age profile of clients, she asked, 'What might we do differently if we had that information?' Since the answer was nothing, she determined the analysis wasn't worth the time.
COVID-19 Testing
Craig White argued against everyone in his family getting a COVID-19 test after his wife tested positive. Since the entire family would quarantine for fourteen days regardless of the results, the tests would provide no useful information to change his family's decision.
Emergency Surgery
A Harvard surgeon wanted to keep Richard's mother in the hospital overnight to run more tests. Richard asked if the surgeon would operate regardless of the test results. When the surgeon said yes, Richard argued they should operate immediately to avoid the danger of waiting. The surgeon operated, finding a leaky appendix and peritonitis.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a recent project where you requested additional data. Would the final decision have changed if the data turned out differently?
Before gathering information, ask yourself: 'If I had to make the decision right now with what I know, what would I do?'
Identify an area in your life where you are waiting for 'perfect' information. Is the delay justified, or is the current information sufficient for a decision?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Maxims for Thinking Analytically The wisdom of legendary Harvard Professor Richard Zeckhauser (Dan Levy)