Situations / Organizations and bureaucracy
Organizations and bureaucracy
Why institutions behave the way they do.
Traps you might be in
- No. 0124 Bystander EffectA passenger collapses, and you scan the faces around you before taking a step.
- No. 0233 Curse of KnowledgeYou write six clear steps for a new hire, then spend an hour explaining what you thought needed no explanation.
- No. 0335 Escalation of CommitmentThe pilot misses its target, and you open next quarter’s budget to find more money for the plan you pitched.
- No. 0409 Fundamental Attribution ErrorA coworker misses your deadline, and you decide she’s careless before asking what else landed on her desk.
- No. 0681 Not-Invented-Here SyndromeA colleague offers a tool that does the job, and your team starts planning its own version without even opening the demo.
- No. 0910 Self-Serving BiasWhen your presentation wins praise, you credit your preparation; when it falls flat, you blame the room’s lousy attention.
- No. 0979 Status Quo BiasYou renew the same phone plan again, with a cheaper offer still open in the next tab.
Tools to try
- No. 0141 Chesterton’s FenceYou delete an old approval step, and the next payment goes to a bank account nobody verified.
- No. 0312 Eisenhower MatrixYou spend the morning answering messages, then realize the hiring plan due next month still hasn’t moved.
- No. 0388 Five WhysYou refill the label printer again, then notice nobody knows who is supposed to order the rolls.
- No. 0452 Hanlon’s RazorYour coworker leaves you off a meeting invite, and you’re already drafting the angry reply.
- No. 0872 Safe-to-Fail ExperimentYou test the new scheduling rule on one volunteer team, with someone ready to restore the old schedule that afternoon.
- No. 0961 Spacing EffectYou finish a two-hour study session feeling fluent, then blank on the same questions a week later.
- No. 1079 Via NegativaYour week is packed, and canceling one standing meeting helps most, delivering more than a better calendar app could.
Patterns at play
- No. 0119 Brooks’s LawWith the release already two weeks late, your most experienced engineer spends Monday teaching three new hires the build process.
- No. 0153 Cobra EffectYou offer a reward for each pest killed, then discover someone is breeding pests to collect it.
- No. 0212 Conway’s LawYour company sells one product, but customers need three accounts because three departments built their parts separately.
- No. 0318 EmergenceYou stop on a clear highway, then crawl forward, though there’s no accident, roadwork, or blocked lane ahead.
- No. 0379 Feedback LoopsYou turn up the microphone to be heard, and the speakers answer with a squeal.
- No. 0412 Gall’s LawYour team has designed the entire replacement system, but nobody has yet put one real order through it.
- No. 0437 Goodhart’s LawWhen a number becomes the goal, people find ways to move the number that don’t move the goal.
- No. 0444 GroupthinkIn the budget meeting, you leave your warning unspoken as everyone nods along with the director.
- No. 0458 Hawthorne EffectWith a researcher watching you try the new app, you read every instruction you would normally skip.
- No. 0554 Law of Triviality (Bikeshedding)Your team approves the migration plan in five minutes, then spends half an hour arguing about the launch email’s subject line.
- No. 0597 Matthew EffectThe editor requests another book from the famous author while your first manuscript still sits unread.
- No. 0630 Moral HazardYour insurance pays the whole repair bill, so you accept the first quote instead of shopping around.
- No. 0679 Normalization of DevianceThe backup alarm has been silent for weeks, but every shift has gone fine, so today’s crew leaves it broken.
- No. 0722 Parkinson’s LawYou have all afternoon to send a simple email, and by five you’ve rewritten it six times.
- No. 0728 Path DependenceYour team keeps using the clunky database because every report, script, and hire has been built around it.
- No. 0736 Peter PrincipleYour best salesperson gets promoted, then spends every team meeting rescuing deals instead of coaching anyone.
- No. 0769 Principal-Agent ProblemYour adviser recommends a fund, and you discover it pays them more than the cheaper option would.
- No. 0773 Prisoner’s DilemmaYou check your phone while your friend talks, then look up to find your friend scrolling while you talk.
- No. 0991 Streisand EffectYou demand that a website delete an unflattering photo, and by dinner your friends are forwarding it to each other.
- No. 1009 Swiss Cheese ModelA patient gets the wrong dose even though the order has passed through a computer check, a pharmacist, and a nurse.
- No. 1030 Theory of ConstraintsYour team doubles its assembly speed, but finished orders still pile up beside the same overloaded testing bench.
- No. 1040 Tipping PointTwo people leave your weekly game night, and the remaining friends stop coming because they expect an empty table.
- No. 1043 Tragedy of the CommonsYou stop watering your lawn, but the shared reservoir keeps falling while the sprinklers run next door.
- No. 1064 Unintended ConsequencesYou turn off phone notifications, then find yourself checking the screen every five minutes.