Faith's Law illustration
Strategy / Risk / Decision-Making
Strategy / Risk / Decision-Making

Faith's Law

Hold the current advantage until the new one is real.

Popularity
Usefulness
Aliases
Keep-the-first-until-the-second rule / don't-drop-the-first principle
Domains
Strategy, risk management, decision-making, competition

Definition

  • Faith's Law holds that you should not throw away the first thing until you have secured the second: in competition and change, do not abandon a valuable position before its replacement is safely in hand.

Core Idea

  • Hold the current advantage until the new one is real.
  • Sequential replacement is safer than premature abandonment.
  • Prudence and timing matter as much as ambition.

How It Works

  • A company develops a new option while preserving the old one.
  • Only after the replacement is proven does it let go of the original asset, market, or position.
  • That sequencing reduces avoidable exposure.

Usage Example

  • A firm pilots a new revenue channel while keeping its profitable core business running, instead of shutting down the core before the new model has actually stabilized.

Famous Example

  • Example: The MBA source attributes it to P. S. Feis/Faith and summarizes it as "never throw away the first before getting the second."
  • Why it fits this rule: It is a direct warning against letting go too early in uncertain competition.
  • Verification status: Matches MBA's Faith entry; the exact English rendering of the surname is uncertain.

Use Cases / Situations Where It Applies

  • Strategic transitions.
  • Managing competitive risk.
  • Replacing products, suppliers, or revenue sources.

When Not to Use or Common Misuse

  • Do not use it as an excuse to cling to obsolete assets forever.
  • Do not confuse caution with inaction.
  • Do not let "keeping the first" block timely commitment once the second is truly ready.

Rule Invention / Origin

  • Invented by: Attributed in management literature to P. S. Feis/Faith; exact English rendering is uncertain.
  • Year of invention: Modern.
  • Country / context of origin: Popular management literature.

Evidence / Research Basis

  • Consistent with staged-transition and risk-management thinking.