Arbitrary conventions lock in once enough participants adopt them

Evidence

The best-known illustrative example of this effect at the institutional level is the decision regarding right-hand traffic versus left-hand traffic; the institution became fixed early on because of the obvious benefits of following it— uncertainties involved in human interaction could successfully be reduced (North, 1990: 23). Another well-known example that applies directly to the level of single organizations is working time regimes, which guarantee efficient cooperation. There is a striking similarity to the economies of scale effect (North, 1990): increasing the number of participants results in decreasing (coordination) cost per unit. — Jörg Sydow, Georg Schreyögg, and Jochen Koch, Organizational Path Dependence, 79

Categorization

• CANDY: The left-vs-right-hand traffic lock-in is a neat elevator fact: an essentially arbitrary choice becomes permanent because everyone following it cuts uncertainty.
• SEED: Angle: how arbitrary organizational conventions (meeting formats, ticket systems, working hours) harden into ‘obvious’ practice and become nearly impossible to change.
• XREF: connects to: Absences of conventions themselves act as status signals — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 203; Conventions are arbitrary practices that coordinate choices where several options are equally viable — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 119; Conventions gain force because unmet expectations trigger anger regardless of material stakes — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 127