Mind Your Decisions

Strategic Commitments: How to Lose Weight and Live up to New Years Resolutions

Every Tuesday is a Game Theory article at Mind Your Decisions.

I went through on a two-year decision and I finally shaved my head last Friday. I got plenty of reactions from family and friends. I am happy with the look and lots of people have supported it.

But even supporters have been puzzled: Why now? Why would you shave your head just before the cold Illinois winter? Won’t you regret it?

On the contrary, I answer. Now that I’m bald, I’ll be sure to wear a cap whenever I go out. I never wore caps because upon removal they made my curly hair look funky. Yes, it was not so smart that I picked fashion over a simple cold weather precaution.

But there is a more important reason I shaved my head before the winter. It’s based on a game theory concept called a “strategic commitment.”

A strategic commitment is a promise to choose an inferior strategy with the intention of altering people’s expectations. The benefit is that you can show people you are serious about following through. And that can help you in the long-run.

This concept has a multitude of applications. I’ll summarize five ways strategic commitments can be used to show you are serious.

1. Personal

I am well aware that it is stupid to shave my head in the winter. But by committing myself to an inferior option, I can demonstrate to others that I am serious about having this look. Since I commit at the worst time, I make it clear that I will continue the look through the summer.

2. Business

A strategic commitment is a great way to show you are serious to your customer. Microeconomist Mike Moffat uses strategic commitments all the time:

I use strategic precommitments quite often in my personal life and they seem to work really well. When I write up a business contract that requires me to deliver a specific item to a customer by a specific date, I usually write into the contract very harsh penalties (to be paid by me) for late delivery. This accomplishes two things - it helps convince the customer that he will receive his item on time and it gives me a big incentive to make sure things don’t get “lost in the mix” and I forget to deliver the item on time. In this case the precommitment is credible, since the terms are written into a legally enforceable contract. I’ve found it’s worked spectacularly well for me. I have an incredibly poor memory but these penalties sure have made me “remember” what I’m supposed to do and when and I have yet to pay a single penalty to a customer. The promise some pizza delivery places make of “30 minutes or it’s free” works in the same manner.

3. Health

Strategic commitments work just as well for celebrities and athletes as they do for the rest of us. Heading in to the 2005-2006 NBA season, Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony wanted to shed weight to take his game to the next level.

Instead of following one diet or the other, he made a commitment to eat specific meals, in predetermined quantities, at scheduled times.

To get an idea for the specificity, take a look at his Monday menu, printed in Stack Magazine:

Monday

TIME	FOOD	QUANTITY
10:00 a.m.	- Non-fat turkey bacon - Fried eggs - Bagel - Spreadable fruit	- 5 strips - 2 - 1 - 1 tbsp.
1:00 p.m. (post workout)	- Non fat yogurt - Apple	- 1 cup - 1
4:30 p.m.	- Canned tuna - Whole wheat bread - Condiments as desired	- 4 oz. can - 2 slices
6:30 p.m.	- Almonds	- 10
9:30 p.m.	- Salmon - Vegetable of choice	- 10-12 oz. - 2 cups

Look at how obsessive that is. He was scheduled to eat exactly 10 almonds at 6:30pm, every Monday. Do you have that kind of restraint?

No, and that’s why you need to commit in advance. And this diet ultimately worked. Anthony lost around 25 pounds going into the season and was much faster on the court.

So next time you want to show people you are serious, don’t get creative; make a commitment. Find a way to limit your options so that failure would be costly.

4. New Year’s Resolutions

Moffat adds a nice twist by creating monetary penalties for failing on his New Year’s resolutions. He chooses goals that he really wants to keep and tells friends he will pay them money if he fails:

Dear Hannah,

I have chosen you to help me stick to my New Year’s Resolutions. In order to achieve all the goals I have for myself, I will pay you the sum of $20 on the first day of 2007 for each of these goals which is not met:

1. At some point in 2006, I will run 10K in 50 minutes or less.

….

He’s had tremendous success and so can you.

5. Blogging

And one last example: many bloggers are worried about having theme days since it limits topics they can write about. But using game theory, I know that targeted content is actually a good thing, which is why I have “Game Theory Tuesdays.”

I commit myself to a specific topic and give readers predictable delivery of content. In turn, readers remind me to keep up the posts and even suggest topics. And all of this is great motivation since I look unreliable if I miss a post.

It’s really been a confirmation to me that game theory works.

If you want to read more about why less is more, check out my posts on apparel retailing practices and why some people get all the good projects.

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