People Value Fairness

http://www.bookdepository.com/Sway-Ori-Brafman/9780385530606

Before he gets too carried away with changing the rules to ensure he gets the outcome he wants, Colin Barnett should ponder the research that shows that people value fairness over outcomes. In general terms, although having our say might not change the outcome, when we don't get to voice our concerns we perceive the fairness of the process less favourably than when we do.

This is all part of what Ori and Rom Brafman call 'the irresistable pull of irrational behaviour'.

Faced with the scale of opposition and opprobrium that forced local government amalgamations have produced, the rational thing for CB to do, you'd think, would be to work to get some runs on the board through co-operative action. Instead, he chooses to change the rules with retrospective application, thus increasing the amount of opposition not only to the specific changes but also to the supposed objectives of those changes.