Massachusetts is making Obama and his policy makers reevaluate the political landscape. They are going to have to make adjustments and make them soon. Of course, this is a challenge for any leader because adjustments aren’t easy and they can cause overreactions.
It seems obvious—if you have data that indicate an initiative is failing, you should be able to make adjustments. Yet sometimes inertia sets in after an evaluation has been made. You put the initiative in place, it’s moving, sure it needs adjusting and tweaking, but is it worth the effort? You already have some embedded transaction costs. You are already comfortable with the process. You wonder how much risk you’re willing to take, how much adjustment you’re willing to make.
