Why logic alone doesn’t win arguments

When we started Teach First, we jumped through hoops to build a bullet-proof case. We found solutions to the endless objections. We consulted with all the right experts and got their support. Prominent business leaders lined up to back us, and we even had the cautious support of civil servants. When our case was 100% rock solid, we were granted a meeting with the minister so that he could pour holy water on our idea and give us the go-ahead.

What could possibly go wrong?

The minister shuffled into the room, late. He avoided eye contact and said: “Thank you all for your efforts, but I am afraid this idea is too risky for us. We cannot go ahead.” 

As we left the room, all we could see was dust as our business backers beat a hasty retreat: they did not want to be associated with failure. We were left alone, wondering what had gone wrong.

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Our first instinct was to double down. We pored over our case to make sure that it was not just bullet-proof, but bomb-proof. It would be a guaranteed success. But we also took time to consult various officials about what had gone wrong. 

Their responses were typically oblique for civil servants. But the picture that emerged was clear. The problem was not that Teach First might fail. The real problem was that it might succeed. That would make the minister’s pet project, Fast Track, look like a failure. Only in government will an idea get killed because it might succeed.