Consequence
Every decision has descendants.
Judge a decision by what it produces. Follow the immediate result into habits, incentives and the inheritance it leaves behind.
Ask what happens next.
- State the objective. What are you trying to preserve, change or build?
- Name the first effect. Who gains, who carries the cost, and what changes immediately?
- Follow the second effect. What behaviour does that result reward? What becomes easier or harder?
- Extend the time horizon. If repeated for ten years, what does this produce? What does the next generation inherit?
- Test the structure. Does it still work without your constant intervention? Where could it fail?
- Define the correction. What evidence would change your mind? When will you review it?
Use it close to home.
A missed training session is a small event. A repeated habit of abandoning commitments changes your health, capability and trust in yourself. A single choice and a way of living need to be judged on different time horizons.
The same questions apply to raising children, choosing a business partner, adopting technology or designing an institution. The point is to make the consequences visible while you can still act on them.
The book by Spencer Tarring
The Dominus Code
F*ck Monogamy. Build a Dynasty.
The provocation opens the argument. Continuity gives it purpose.