Reason-Respecting Tendency
A natural human love for accurate cognition and joy in its exercise, leading to increased compliance and learning when reasons are given—even if those reasons are meaningless or incorrect.
THE IDEA
REASON-RESPECTING TENDENCY
Reason is God’s greatest gift to man.
—Sophocles
There is in man, particularly one in an advanced culture, a natural love of accurate cognition and a joy in its exercise. This accounts for the widespread popularity of crossword puzzles, other puzzles, and bridge and chess columns, as well as all games requiring mental skill.
This tendency has an obvious implication. It makes man especially prone to learn well when a would-be teacher gives correct reasons for what is taught, instead of simply laying out the desired belief ex cathedra with no reasons given. Few practices, therefore, are wiser than not only thinking through reasons before giving orders but also communicating these reasons to the recipient of the order.
No one knew this better than Carl Braun, who designed oil refineries with spectacular skill and integrity.
He had a very simple rule, one of many in his large, Teutonic company: You had to tell Who was to do What, Where, When, and Why. And if you wrote a communication leaving out your explanation of why the addressee was to do what was ordered, Braun was likely to fire you because Braun well knew that ideas got through best when reasons for the ideas were meticulously laid out.
In general, learning is most easily assimilated and used when, life long, people consistently hang their experience, actual and vicarious, on a latticework of theory answering the question: Why? Indeed, the question “Why?” is a sort of Rosetta stone opening up the major potentiality of mental life.
Unfortunately, Reason-Respecting Tendency is so strong that even a person’s giving of meaningless or incorrect reasons will increase compliance with his orders and requests. This has been demonstrated in psychology experiments wherein “compliance practitioners” successfully jump to the head of the lines in front of copying machines by explaining their reason: “I have to make some copies.” This sort of unfortunate byproduct of Reason-Respecting Tendency is a conditioned reflex, based on a widespread appreciation of the importance of reasons. And, naturally, the practice of laying out various claptrap reasons is much used by commercial and cult “compliance practitioners” to help them get what they don’t deserve.
When to use it
A manager implementing a new process: Instead of just telling employees what to do, she explains why the change is necessary and how it benefits the team, leading to higher adoption.
A software developer documenting a code change: By including the reason for the change in the commit message, other developers understand the context and are more likely to accept the modification.
A salesperson explaining a product's features: By linking each feature to a specific customer need or reason, the sales pitch becomes more persuasive.
A parent asking a child to do a chore: Giving a logical reason ('We need a clean room to avoid accidents') will be more effective than just issuing a command.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
The Copy Machine Experiment
In psychology experiments, people trying to cut in line at a copy machine were more successful when they gave a reason, even a trivial one like 'I have to make some copies,' compared to no reason.
Carl Braun's Communication Rule
Oil refinery designer Carl Braun enforced a rule in his company: all communications must specify Who, What, Where, When, and Why. Omitting the 'Why' could get a person fired, because Braun understood that reasons increase comprehension and compliance.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Recall a time when you were given an order with a clear reason versus one without. How did your willingness to comply differ?
In what situations might you have used meaningless reasons to gain compliance, and what were the consequences?
How can you structure communications to leverage the reason-respecting tendency ethically in your work?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Wisdom Theory 100 Mental Models (2020) (Wisdom Theory)