The Cost-of-Effort Test

Watch what someone does when keeping a small commitment costs more than skipping it. The colleague who sends the promised answer by the agreed deadline, or renegotiates it clearly before the deadline passes, signals what a hundred recommendations cannot — that her word holds when nothing forces it to.

The opposite signal lands just as loudly. The teammate who silently lets a promised deliverable slide when nobody is watching teaches the room exactly what their other promises are worth. There is no neutral data point.