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That's a thing. Expressing in public your desire to achieve something makes you less likely to deliver. http://www.psych.nyu.edu/gollwitzer/09_Gollwitzer_Sheer

That's a thing. Expressing in public your desire to achieve something makes you less likely to deliver. http://www.psych.nyu.edu/gollwitzer/09_Gollwitzer_Sheeran_Seifert_Michalski_When_Intentions_.pdf http://www.psych.nyu.edu/gollwitzer/09_Gollwitzer_Sheeran_Se...

owebmaster 9y ago
I don't agree with this reasoning. Expressing in public your projects is a compromise and it can help you keep developing it when people ask if it is ready. If you are going to abandon your projects, not telling people will not help you succeed, it will only spare you the shame and effort explaining why you droped another project.
- hectorlorenzo 9y ago
  A little bit of pop psychology from my end... I don't think people start projects with the conscious intention of building identity, but with a genuine intention of delivering. I do think, though, that there's a small (or big!) part of your unconscious brain that binds these efforts to an overarching persona-building (both inwards and outwards) project. Although unconscious, it contributes to this net energy. I guess that this communicating your intentions satisfies this portion of your brain, and reduces the amount of energy involved in the project.
  - owebmaster 9y ago
    Sure, this makes sense. I just don't think (using only myself as a reference, which is totally biased) that this effect has a bigger impact than the social pressure the public compromise creates.
- juiyout 9y ago
  It is curious for me. I will not do something if I don't want to do it anymore. If my perceived integrity is the only thing that gets hurt, so be it. If someone else could get hurt, I push through.
  - juiyout 9y ago
    On another note, I believe integrity could be unnecessarily valued sometimes. My (limited) experience in business field told me that there is no friend or enemy, but profit. Profit trumps integrity almost every time in business decisions. I don't think VC deals with integrity of founder in absolute term either. If potential benefit outweigh risk after calculation, then greenlight it is. Very much perceived as disloyal Steve Jobs, I don't think he got around by integrity.
jnwatson 9y ago
Fascinating. I've tried to use talking about a project as a commitment device. Looking back on my many projects, the feeling of delivering on an external commitment seems much weaker than the urgency of "wait 'til my colleagues see this!"
CuriouslyC 9y ago
The weird thing is the same situation works in reverse as well. Publicly declaring your intention to quit a habit or lose weight has also been shown to increase success in some instances. I think it depends on whether people reward you with positive regard for stating an intention to do something, and whether you look foolish if you don't do the thing you stated. When you can get the reward just for the statement and there is no consequences for failure, pre-stating your intention seems harmful. On the other hand, if you are not rewarded for pre-statement, and failure is embarrassing, pre-stating your intention seems helpful.
- donquichotte 9y ago
  This is how it works for me, I'm afraid of losing face, so I'll just bite the bullet and do what my former self promised.
- juiyout 9y ago
  I have observed this vastly "bipolar" results amongst my friends as well. Some take public declaration to heart and they ram through their goals. However I quickly lose interest of the project after I told everybody. I would go extra length to surprise and dish out cool stuff more often I care to finish side project only because I said I will do it. I somehow concluded that I don't care about approvals on my 'integrity' yet I highly value my 'creativity' viewed by others.

owebmaster 9y ago

I don't agree with this reasoning. Expressing in public your projects is a compromise and it can help you keep developing it when people ask if it is ready. If you are going to abandon your projects, not telling people will not help you succeed, it will only spare you the shame and effort explaining why you droped another project.

hectorlorenzo 9y ago
A little bit of pop psychology from my end... I don't think people start projects with the conscious intention of building identity, but with a genuine intention of delivering. I do think, though, that there's a small (or big!) part of your unconscious brain that binds these efforts to an overarching persona-building (both inwards and outwards) project. Although unconscious, it contributes to this net energy. I guess that this communicating your intentions satisfies this portion of your brain, and reduces the amount of energy involved in the project.
- owebmaster 9y ago
  Sure, this makes sense. I just don't think (using only myself as a reference, which is totally biased) that this effect has a bigger impact than the social pressure the public compromise creates.
juiyout 9y ago
It is curious for me. I will not do something if I don't want to do it anymore. If my perceived integrity is the only thing that gets hurt, so be it. If someone else could get hurt, I push through.
- juiyout 9y ago
  On another note, I believe integrity could be unnecessarily valued sometimes. My (limited) experience in business field told me that there is no friend or enemy, but profit. Profit trumps integrity almost every time in business decisions. I don't think VC deals with integrity of founder in absolute term either. If potential benefit outweigh risk after calculation, then greenlight it is. Very much perceived as disloyal Steve Jobs, I don't think he got around by integrity.

jnwatson 9y ago

Fascinating. I've tried to use talking about a project as a commitment device. Looking back on my many projects, the feeling of delivering on an external commitment seems much weaker than the urgency of "wait 'til my colleagues see this!"

CuriouslyC 9y ago

The weird thing is the same situation works in reverse as well. Publicly declaring your intention to quit a habit or lose weight has also been shown to increase success in some instances. I think it depends on whether people reward you with positive regard for stating an intention to do something, and whether you look foolish if you don't do the thing you stated. When you can get the reward just for the statement and there is no consequences for failure, pre-stating your intention seems harmful. On the other hand, if you are not rewarded for pre-statement, and failure is embarrassing, pre-stating your intention seems helpful.

donquichotte 9y ago
This is how it works for me, I'm afraid of losing face, so I'll just bite the bullet and do what my former self promised.
juiyout 9y ago
I have observed this vastly "bipolar" results amongst my friends as well. Some take public declaration to heart and they ram through their goals. However I quickly lose interest of the project after I told everybody. I would go extra length to surprise and dish out cool stuff more often I care to finish side project only because I said I will do it. I somehow concluded that I don't care about approvals on my 'integrity' yet I highly value my 'creativity' viewed by others.