“Promises are like debt — they accrue interest. The longer you wait to fulfill them, the more they cost to pay off.”
When problems come up and we want to placate an upset customer or colleague, it’s tempting to make a quick promise to remedy the situation. But Basecamp founder Jason Fried warns that’s a slippery slope.
He explains why promises to placate rarely end well and suggests you’re often better off saying no to somebody up front and dealing with the short term pain than to set yourself up for a long-term problem.