carrying out the chosen course of action. Importantly, the shift from a delibera- tive to an implemental mind-set can occur either when an actor freely chooses a policy from a menu of options, or when a course of action is dictated by an external source: “[W]hat matters is that one feels called upon to implement a certain goal, regardless of whether it is chosen or assigned.”18 The metaphor of crossing the Rubicon refers to the moment when deliberations have, for what- ever reason, been put to rest.
The reason the Rubicon model is so important is that people exhibit a dra- matic difference in their susceptibility to judgment and decisionmaking biases depending on whether they are in a deliberative or an implemental mind-set. As Heckhausen and Gollwitzer found, the “transition from contemplating to enacting options appears to represent a psychological Rubicon, a boundary line between different states of mind.”19
deliberative versus implemental mind-sets
Table 1 summarizes key biases that differ signiacantly between people in a predecisional or deliberative mind-set versus a postdecisional or implemental mind-set. Actors in a deliberative mind-set (left column of table 1) adopt a rel- atively objective approach to judgment and decisionmaking, weighing the ex- pected utility of different options in an effort to make the best selection. In deliberative mind-sets, people may approximate the rational actor model of decisionmaking.
By contrast, judgment and decisionmaking are very different in an implemen- tal mind-set, which occurs when actors plan how to implement their chosen course of action or actually engage in implementation (right column of table 1). The task now is to prepare for the achievement of certain goals and avoid be- ing distracted by alternatives or doubts. Actors in an implemental mind-set become committed to the course of action that has been chosen or forced on them. They focus intensely on getting the task done and resist reconsider- ing decisions they have already made or contemplating other courses of ac- tion.20 As Heckhausen and Gollwitzer put it, implemental mind-sets turn people into “narrow-minded partisans of their plans of action.”