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Comment by bretthellman | Hacker News Reader

While researching, I found this inspiring post by Gokul Rajaram who is someone I respect tremendously. If you haven't heard of Gokul, he's considered the Godfather of Google AdSense, creator of FB's ad platform and now a leader at Square. It's worth at least considering his advice :-)

Here's the article where Gokul recommends this approach: https://firstround.com/review/square-defangs-difficult-decis...

"After a decision is made, each participant must commit support out loud. Pledging support aloud binds you to the greater good."

To my surprise, this technique is highly effective. Might be worth giving it a try?

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I'll second the claim that this feels cult like. I'll even cede it is probably effective. Still feels cult like.

Saying this comes from the same kind as AdSense and Facebook ads actually makes it feel worse. :(

After a decision is made, each participant must commit support out loud. Pledging support aloud binds you to the greater good.

So, you want me to count coup in front of the defeated and make them state their surrender for all to hear? I would rather just move on to implementing the decision and rely on their professionalism to not break anything. Their are some folks in the US that do not react well to such public displays of acquiesce.

I agree with the others, it still sounds like a cult because you're forcing agreement. You're creating a false consensus by removing the right to respectfully disagree and taken away the "I told you so" satisfaction and the ability to build reputation from such things. It creates a culture where no one bothers to disagree, it's too much work for no reward.

Search for "Dave Mitchell soapbox consensus" for a much funnier and well thought out look at it.

Weird appeal to authority in referencing Gokul.

The whole point of cult-like behaviors is that they are effective tools of manipulation.

The downside is that they undermine the individual’s psyche.

Have fun playing with this stuff!

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