People will act once an uncertainty is resolved either way, yet decline to act while it remains open, violating the sure-thing principle.
Shafir and Tversky's 1992 finding: students would buy a holiday if they passed the exam, and would buy it if they failed, but would pay to defer the decision until they knew. The reason differs in each branch, and no reason exists until one is chosen.
In practice
- A buyer will commit if the funding round closes and will commit if it fails, and will not commit while it is open.
- A team will proceed whether or not the reorganisation happens, and pauses anyway until it is announced.