Fixes That Fail is a solution works in the short run and creates a worse version of the original problem in the long run. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0323, within the Systems family. The core principle: a solution works in the short run and creates a worse version of the original problem in the long run. 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
A solution works in the short run and creates a worse version of the original problem in the long run.
Plain-English Definition
A solution works in the short run and creates a worse version of the original problem in the long run.
Feynman Explanation
If you've solved the same problem three times, you haven't solved it once.
Core Principle
A solution works in the short run and creates a worse version of the original problem in the long run.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
A solution works in the short run and creates a worse version of the original problem in the long run.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The structural source of most 'why are we doing this again?' moments.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
If you've solved the same problem three times, you haven't solved it once.
Examples
- Cutting maintenance to hit a quarter → equipment fails next year → larger cost.
- The structural source of most 'why are we doing this again?' moments.
Pending editorial review.
Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
This element is common enough to feel like human nature and specific enough to be engineered around. The mechanism underneath it is straightforward: a solution works in the short run and creates a worse version of the original problem in the long run. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: if you've solved the same problem three times, you haven't solved it once. 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, the structural source of most 'why are we doing this again?' moments. It is amplified whenever the structural source of most 'why are we doing this again?' moments. Inside organizations that shows up as the structural source of most 'why are we doing this again?' moments. 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 for any quick fix, name the second-order consequence in writing. Re-read it in 6 months. The test of any redesign here is simple: after the change, can you name what the organization is now doing less of? If not, the payoff structure did not actually move.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- For any quick fix, name the second-order consequence in writing. Re-read it in 6 months.
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.
- For any quick fix, name the second-order consequence in writing. Re-read it in 6 months.
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.
Combining substances to create a new material stronger than its parts.
A single constraint limits the throughput of an entire system.
A system's throughput is constrained by its single slowest step.
Small visible disorders signal that bigger ones will be tolerated.
Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.
Adding people to a late project makes it later.
A substance that speeds up a reaction without being consumed.
Nonlinear systems are highly sensitive to initial conditions.
Inputs combine under conditions to produce new outputs — sometimes irreversibly.
Software architecture mirrors org structure.
Working together has a cost that scales with the number of people.
The threshold at which a system becomes self-sustaining.
Where Fixes That Fail 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.
- EssayAI Agents Inherit Your Incentives
How this element propagates into automated systems.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
- CourseIncentives 101
The free ten-part primer on reading a payoff structure.
Questions about Fixes That Fail
- What is Fixes That Fail?
- Fixes That Fail is a solution works in the short run and creates a worse version of the original problem in the long run. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0323, within the Systems family. The core principle: a solution works in the short run and creates a worse version of the original problem in the long run. 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 Fixes That Fail?
- The structural source of most 'why are we doing this again?' moments. The Incentives Lab catalogs everyday, organizational, and historical instances of this element on its Human Behavior Taxonomy™ page (HBT-COG-0323).
- How is Fixes That Fail exploited?
- The structural source of most 'why are we doing this again?' moments.
- How do you design around Fixes That Fail?
- For any quick fix, name the second-order consequence in writing. Re-read it in 6 months.
- Which behavioral dimension does Fixes That Fail belong to?
- Fixes That Fail is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Systems", class "Mental Model". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0323 and its evidence grade is B.