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Careful with commitment
How our determination to avoid making a bad decision may lead to an even worse one
The comedy show The Two Ronnies used to feature a recurring sketch, In The Chair. Ronnie Corbett, on his own in high-back seat, started what initially promised to be a short monologue — some joke or funny anecdote. The real joke, however, was that he almost immediately deviated from the subject, meandering on and on through a sequence of wholly unrelated topics, only to return to the original tale after six or seven minutes, to complete the sketch.
This kind of raconteurship is an excellent skill if you are comedian. If, however, your role is to introduce speakers at a conference and moderate questions from the audience, verbosity and timekeeping are not the best of friends — no matter how engaging your stories. This is why the team running the show at the 2016 edition of Nudgestock (the annual behaviouralists’ jamboree in the UK) struck a deal with host Rory Sutherland. Rory’s brain harbours a vast collection of highly relevant insights which, given half an opportunity, he generously shares. The risk of 7 minutes Q&A after each session turning into 20 minutes was very, very real. Every time he exceeded the allocated time, he would be fined £50.
