ABSTRACT
Throughout his career, Ralph Rosnow puzzled about how people make sense of their social worlds. He often went beyond the safe world of the laboratory for ideas and problems to solve, and did not shy away from gleaning bits of wisdom from the popular culture, as recounted in his “personal journey” inside rumor (Rosnow, 1991). This chapter takes the 1991 paper as an inspiration to tackle another vexing problem in the organizational world: escalation and persistence of commitment to a failing course of action. At first glance, it would appear that continuing in a failing course of action would be a reflection of irrationality, or an intellectual deficit. However, another perspective views decision makers in escalation situations as individuals striving to divine the right direction amid a quagmire of conflicting and confusing information. Popular attention sees that these individuals’ decisions are losing dollars, but a more nuanced analysis reveals that the individuals are trying to make sense.
