No. 143 · Work · Economics
Tyranny of Small Decisions
Many small, sensible choices can add up to a result nobody wanted.
In the Almanac
“The Great Plow-Up”, 1910s–1935 · “Woolworths”, 2008
Both stories in full, three ways to use it and where it misleads.
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Questions
What is Tyranny of Small Decisions?
The Tyranny of Small Decisions describes how individually reasonable choices, made one at a time, can combine into a result that few people would ever vote for, from eroded farmland to empty high streets.
How do you use Tyranny of Small Decisions?
To guard against it, judge repeated choices as policies rather than one-offs, look at the yearly total of small habits and commitments, and spend some of your money and time on the things you want to survive.
When does Tyranny of Small Decisions matter?
Tyranny of Small Decisions is one of the 43 mental models for work, the situations where you ask: How do I get the right things done? Within that, it belongs to “Focus and priorities”, alongside Bikeshedding, Law of Diminishing Returns and Leverage.
What is an example of Tyranny of Small Decisions?
Two stories show it at work: The Great Plow-Up (1910s–1935) and Woolworths (2008). Both are told in full in The Mental Models Daily Almanac, which has two stories for each of its 365 models.
Which mental models are related to Tyranny of Small Decisions?
Tragedy of the Commons, Compounding Effect and Boiling Frog. Tyranny of Small Decisions itself comes from economics.