Scientific Definition
Anything — monetary or not — that shifts the expected payoff of an action.
Plain-English Definition
Anything — monetary or not — that shifts the expected payoff of an action.
Feynman Explanation
Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome. — Munger.
Core Principle
Anything — monetary or not — that shifts the expected payoff of an action.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Anything — monetary or not — that shifts the expected payoff of an action.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Every system in your business is running on the incentives you designed — or the ones you didn't notice.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome. — Munger.
Examples
- Intrinsic, extrinsic, social, status, identity — all real incentives.
- Every system in your business is running on the incentives you designed — or the ones you didn't notice.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Map the incentive surface before you redesign the org chart.
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.
- Map the incentive surface before you redesign the org chart.
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.
Believing others are motivated by extrinsic rewards while we are motivated intrinsically.
Scarcity (of money, time, bandwidth) narrows attention and degrades decision quality.
Less available = perceived as more valuable.
Free products monetize attention, structurally aligning incentives against user time well spent.
Headlines optimized for clicks become editorial policy.
A handful of providers shape the entire AI economy.
Contingency-fee structures shape which cases get filed.
Profit pools concentrate around treating chronic illness, not preventing it.
Discount framing nudges people to buy things they wouldn't otherwise want.
Productivity targets compress visits, raising misdiagnosis and burnout.
A federal mandate intended to lower drug costs for the poor became a profit engine for hospitals and contract pharmacies.
Earn-outs designed to retain founders often demotivate the team they bought.