The strategy that works

Committing to a bad strategy is costly.

Not simply because doing what doesn't work isn't only ineffective, but because acknowledging when you're wrong is often more difficult than it seems.

Changing course, after all, is fraught with risk. Because if you switch gears and later find out you're wrong, then you'll miss out on the potential upside of having stuck to your original plan.

And so, while looking at the metrics, finding out what's not working, and reassessing your return on investment isn't hard to do, it's also not easy.

It's easier to commit to a strategy that's worked for others than take a risk on doing something original that might work out better for you.

Of course, blindly sticking to a strategy that's clearly not effective--no matter how ubiquitous it appears--is just as, if not more, expensive.