Scientific Definition
Subordinates report what leaders want to hear, not what's true.
Plain-English Definition
Subordinates report what leaders want to hear, not what's true.
Feynman Explanation
Bad news routes around the people who could fix it.
Core Principle
Subordinates report what leaders want to hear, not what's true.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Subordinates report what leaders want to hear, not what's true.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Information asymmetry compounds with seniority.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Bad news routes around the people who could fix it.
Examples
- Late-stage Soviet planning. Many CEO blind spots.
- Information asymmetry compounds with seniority.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Skip-level meetings. Anonymous reporting. Reward bad news.
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.
- Skip-level meetings. Anonymous reporting. Reward bad news.
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.
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Narrowly tied bonuses get gamed; people optimize the metric, not the underlying goal.
Re-hires often get raises larger than internal promotions.
Pay tied to stock price encourages short-term price management.
CEO pay tied to size rewards deal-making even when acquisitions destroy value.
Sales forecasts under-set to ensure attainment bonus.
Capital tied to growth rates funds unsustainable scaling and unit-economics denial.
Managers measured by team size grow teams beyond need.
Awards reward visible novelty; quiet excellence goes unrecognized.
Innovation programs designed to signal innovation, not to produce it.