Overcome Short-Term Emotion
The 10/10/10 framework asks how a decision will feel after ten minutes, ten months, and ten years. Along with an observer’s perspective, it helps make longer-term priorities visible when an immediate emotion dominates.
THE IDEA
Overcome Short-Term Emotion
- Fleeting emotions tempt us to make decisions that are bad in the long term.
• Car salesmen are trained to prey on customers’ emotions to close a deal quickly.
- To overcome distracting short-term emotions, we need to attain some distance.
• Millionaire teacher Andrew Hallam avoided car lots so he could stick to his criteria.
- 10/10/10 asks how we will feel after ten minutes, ten months, and ten years, giving future emotions attention alongside present ones.
• A 10/10/10 analysis tipped Annie toward saying “I love you” first to Karl.
- Our decisions are often altered by two subtle short-term emotions: (1) mere exposure: we like what’s familiar to us; and (2) loss aversion: losses are more painful than gains are pleasant.
• How many of our organizational truths are ideas that we like merely because they’ve been repeated a lot?
• Students given a mug won’t sell it for less than $7.12, even though five minutes earlier they wouldn’t have paid more than $2.87!
- Loss aversion + mere exposure = status-quo bias.
• PayPal: Ditching the PalmPilot product was a no-brainer—but it didn’t feel that way.
- We can attain distance by looking at our situation from an observer’s perspective.
• Andy Grove asked, “What would our successors do?”
• Adding distance highlights what is most important; it allows us to see the forest, not the trees.
- Perhaps the most powerful question for resolving personal decisions is “What would I tell my best friend to do in this situation?”
When to use it
Buying a car: Instead of making an impulsive purchase due to a salesperson’s pitch, take a step back and apply 10/10/10 to consider how you’ll feel about the car in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years.
Making a relationship decision: Use 10/10/10 to evaluate the long-term emotional impact of saying “I love you” or ending a relationship.
Business strategy: When a company considers dropping a product line (like PayPal’s PalmPilot), ask “What would our successors do?” to overcome status-quo bias and gain perspective.
Personal finance: Avoid the mere exposure effect by consciously evaluating investments based on long-term criteria rather than familiarity.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Car Salesman Manipulation
Car salesmen are trained to prey on customers’ emotions to close a deal quickly, leading to poor long-term decisions.
Andrew Hallam’s Car Purchase
Millionaire teacher Andrew Hallam avoided car lots so he could stick to his purchasing criteria.
Annie’s 10/10/10 Analysis
A 10/10/10 analysis tipped Annie toward saying “I love you” first to Karl. Considering how she might feel later helped her weigh her immediate hesitation.
Mug Experiment (Loss Aversion)
In a study, students given a mug wouldn’t sell it for less than $7.12, even though five minutes earlier they wouldn’t have paid more than $2.87—illustrating loss aversion.
PayPal’s PalmPilot Decision
Ditching the PalmPilot product was a no-brainer but didn’t feel that way due to status-quo bias (loss aversion + mere exposure).
Andy Grove’s Successor Question
Andy Grove asked, “What would our successors do?” to gain an observer’s perspective and overcome short-term emotions.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a recent decision where you acted on a fleeting emotion. How would the outcome have changed if you had used 10/10/10?
What organizational truths do you accept merely because they are familiar? How might mere exposure be influencing your decisions?
Consider a personal dilemma you’re facing. What would you tell your best friend to do in that situation?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Decisive How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work (Chip Heath)