── ── Mental model
Commitment and Consistency
Small commitments today dramatically raise the probability of large commitments tomorrow — people have a strong drive to behave consistently with prior choices, especially ones that were public, voluntary, and effortful. Freedman & Fraser (1966) showed a trivial petition tripled compliance with a much larger request two weeks later. Cialdini (1984) systematized it as one of six universal influence levers.…
Run Commitment and Consistency on a real problem
Bring something you're actually deciding — free, in the browser.
How it works
Step 1 — Identify: current decision or design · prior commitment history · stakes.
Step 2 — If designing: map the ladder (ultimate goal → small steps). Each step must be voluntary, effortful, visible, and genuinely serve the user. Include exit options at each stage.
Step 3 — If defending: apply the Cialdini fresh-start test. "Knowing what I know now, if I had not made the prior commitments, would I make the same choice?" If no, the consistency drive is the trap.
When to use it
- user says "foot in the door," "I already committed so I have to follow through," "how do I design onboarding / a sales sequence / a commitment ladder," "Cialdini," "would I do this fresh," or is evaluating whether past small steps are pulling them into a bigger decision
When not to use it
the situation is genuinely single-shot with no prior commitment history; commitment framing would be used to pressure someone who already has limited choice.
Worked example
Freedman-Fraser 1966 + Cialdini Systematization + Modern Applications
The Freedman and Fraser 1966 experiment is the canonical empirical demonstration. The experimental design was tight and the results dramatic: signing a trivial petition produced a 3× increase in compliance with a much larger unrelated request two weeks later.
Install this skill (free, MIT)
npx skills add deciqAI/knowledge-skillsUseful? Star the repo — stars help other builders find it.
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