“When you discover you’re riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.”
– Dakota Tribal saying
At first look, this quote provides a logical and humorous piece of advice however on closer inspection, is it so easy to follow through on this when it comes to our own lives?
When we make decisions in life, we become emotionally invested to them being the “right” decisions due to our natural proclivity to be correct (reference that surge of adrenaline you feel during a pub quiz to confirm this). Think of a recent big decision you have made, anything from a career path, a house purchase, a holiday or a car. There is some emotional wrestling to be done before pressing the green light on these decisions. As a result, there is an emotional and sometimes a financial sunk cost that forces us into commitment mode. We have made our decision and we double down; we proceed to further invest emotionally (and again sometimes financially).
But what happens when that job isn’t working out as you hoped, when the car starts to give you constant trouble, when you are having the holiday from hell? This is when we are most at risk to digging in, making it work come hell or high water. Our ego just does not want to be wrong and so we commit even further. This “grit” can be a very admirable quality; it helps us navigate tough times, it gives us that perseverance and consistency that are all associated with successful outcomes.
But what about the dark side of grit, what happens when we overplay grit, when we stick on in there when the sensible thing to do is alter course. Essentially, dismounting the dead horse! Due to those sunk costs, dismounting is easier said than done. Research, outlined in Adam Grant’s magnificent book “Think Again” backs this up in many contexts: –
⁃ Start up companies fail because entrepreneurs are emotionally wedded to their original concept without being willing to adapt it;
⁃ NBA general managers are likely to pump more money into draft pick players despite the fact they are under performing in the hope they come good and they are proved right;
⁃ Gritty mountaineers are more likely to die on expeditions due to their “whatever it takes” mentality; and
⁃ Grit also is a likely factor in roulette players overplaying their hands due to their certainty that a winning hand is on the way
The outside world is noisy, we are blasted with so much information, feedback, and commentary that it can be difficult to tune in to the signals that are urging us to pivot and adapt. How would you know that your decision hasn’t worked out – what is your dead horse trigger? Allow yourself some uninterrupted time to search for these signals as to where you may need to dismount and adapt.
Top Tips:
1. In what area of life are you not getting results?
2. What is your Dead Horse trigger for this area?
3. What are the alternatives open to you to pivot?
