Scientific Definition
Unconscious psychological strategies that protect self-image.
Plain-English Definition
Unconscious psychological strategies that protect self-image.
Feynman Explanation
Denial, projection, rationalization — the unholy trinity of org politics.
Core Principle
Unconscious psychological strategies that protect self-image.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Unconscious psychological strategies that protect self-image.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Most resistance to change is defense mechanism, not disagreement.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Denial, projection, rationalization — the unholy trinity of org politics.
Examples
- A failing initiative gets reframed as 'strategic learning' to protect identity.
- Most resistance to change is defense mechanism, not disagreement.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Separate identity from initiative. Make failure safe to acknowledge.
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.
- Separate identity from initiative. Make failure safe to acknowledge.
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.
Combine extreme safety with extreme risk; avoid the middle.
Game theory adjusted for how humans actually play — including fairness, reciprocity, and limited reasoning.
Allocating finite resources across many fronts when the opponent does the same — no dominant strategy exists.
Coordinated action that produces outcomes unavailable to individual actors.
Designing organizations to ride doubling curves — AI, data, compute, biotech — rather than linear improvement.
Decisions depend on what other strategic actors will do.
Individual rationality produces collective irrationality.
Players choose how much to contribute to a shared pot; selfish theory predicts zero, real humans contribute, and punishment of free-riders sustains cooperation.
Responding in kind — favors for favors, harms for harms.
The ratio of useful information to irrelevant information.
Decision-makers should bear the consequences of their decisions.
Much of human behavior is positioning for status.