This list name came from Rory Sutherland who said that a change in point-of-view is worth more than forty IQ. Our idea here is that we don’t need a smarter way to dig a hole, but to find a different solution to ‘hole’.

Part-of-the-way we can do this is through framing. There’s no need for a better mousetrap if people enjoy cats.

Well before the pandemic, before WFH FTW, “for slightly selfish reasons” Sutherland told his team they could work from home. With this freedom no one did. What gives? Sutherland guessed that they didn’t because it wasn’t seen as normal enough. To do so required a reputation hit. It was a debit on your collective goodwill. It was only once they assigned one day as WFH-day that things changed.

By mandating it, Sutherland changed the norm. This will continue:

"The remote attendance of things has gone from being Dr. Pepper to being Coke. You can ask for a Coca-Cola everywhere, from a beach shack in Jamaica to a Michelin star restaurant and there's nothing weird about the request. That isn't true about Dr. Pepper." 

Now it’s normal. This is an obstacle for any change. The framing of Dr. Pepper to Coke is one way to remember how norms affect what we do, even when given the freedom to do otherwise.