Coordination Game is outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0193, within the Game Theory family. The core principle: outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
Outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'
Plain-English Definition
Outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'
Feynman Explanation
Driving on the right is correct only because everyone else is.
Core Principle
Outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'
Mechanisms
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
Driving on the right is correct only because everyone else is.
Examples
- File formats, charging ports, time zones — pure coordination.
- Internal tools fail when each team picks a different standard.
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Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
Executives usually notice this element only after it has cost something. By then it looks like a one-off. It is not. The mechanism underneath it operates in the Cognition dimension — how do we think?. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: driving on the right is correct only because everyone else is. Every element in the Cognition dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, model APIs converge because coordination is more valuable than novelty. It is amplified whenever internal tools fail when each team picks a different standard. Inside organizations that shows up as internal tools fail when each team picks a different standard. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to pick a focal point fast; switching costs grow non-linearly. Watch for it at the boundaries: handoffs, promotions, incident reviews, and budget cycles are where this element gets its power.
Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
- Pick a focal point fast; switching costs grow non-linearly.
Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Pick a focal point fast; switching costs grow non-linearly.
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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.
Individually rational choices that produce a collectively bad outcome.
People consume shared resources without contributing.
Coordination problem where cooperation pays more but defection is safer.
Clear ownership of outcomes, not just tasks.
Asymmetric information attracts the worst counterparties.
We defer to perceived expertise, rank, or uniform.
Vastness that exceeds existing schemas dissolves the self briefly.
Negative feedback returns a system toward a target.
Membership in a group is a baseline human need.
We seek tasks where we feel effective and improving.
Competing loyalties that compromise judgment.
Value is judged against whatever sits next to it.
Where Coordination Game is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayGoodhart's Law in the Real World
How measurable proxies capture judgment.
- EssayThe Perverse Incentives Hiding in Your KPIs
Cognitive shortcuts turned into scorecards.
- CourseIncentives 101
The free ten-part primer on reading a payoff structure.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
Questions about Coordination Game
- What is Coordination Game?
- Coordination Game is outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0193, within the Game Theory family. The core principle: outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- What is an example of Coordination Game?
- Internal tools fail when each team picks a different standard. The Incentives Lab catalogs everyday, organizational, and historical instances of this element on its Human Behavior Taxonomy™ page (HBT-COG-0193).
- How is Coordination Game exploited?
- Model APIs converge because coordination is more valuable than novelty.
- How do you design around Coordination Game?
- Pick a focal point fast; switching costs grow non-linearly.
- Which behavioral dimension does Coordination Game belong to?
- Coordination Game is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Game Theory", class "Concept". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0193 and its evidence grade is C.