Scientific Definition
We pay a real price to keep control of an outcome, even when delegating would pay better.
Plain-English Definition
We pay a real price to keep control of an outcome, even when delegating would pay better.
Feynman Explanation
Founders, governments, and middle managers — same disease.
Core Principle
We pay a real price to keep control of an outcome, even when delegating would pay better.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
We pay a real price to keep control of an outcome, even when delegating would pay better.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Delegation, automation, and AI adoption all stall on the control premium.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Founders, governments, and middle managers — same disease.
Examples
- Owen & Owen experiment: people bet on themselves even when betting on someone else paid more.
- Delegation, automation, and AI adoption all stall on the control premium.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Cost out the value of the control. Often it doesn't survive contact with the spreadsheet.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Cost out the value of the control. Often it doesn't survive contact with the spreadsheet.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
How will I feel about this in 10 minutes / 10 months / 10 years?
Inattention or forgetfulness caused by low attention, hyperfocus, or distraction.
Forgetting to compare an offer with the next-best alternative.
Outcomes that could have happened but did not.
Overthinking a situation so that decision-making stalls.
The first number on the table silently sets the range for every number after it.
Tversky & Kahneman's classic: identical outcomes flip from 'risk averse' to 'risk seeking' when framed as lives saved vs. lives lost.
Our perception is shaped by what we selectively pay attention to.
Favoring suggestions from automated systems over conflicting human judgment.
A color appears different depending on adjacent colors.
Decisions are constrained by available information, cognitive limits, and time.
The ability to focus on one voice in a noisy environment.