Posts

Why are we so concerned with who’s to blame?

Image
Why are we so concerned with who’s to blame? How our blame instinct soothes us, sabotages us, and what to try instead     Big-picture framing Why are we so concerned with who’s to blame—at work, in politics, in our relationships? Because blame promises something we crave: clarity and control. The moment something goes wrong, our brains reach for a simple story with a clear villain, even when the real explanation is messier and shared. That habit can feel satisfying in the moment but quietly undermines trust, learning, and problem-solving. In this article, we’ll unpack why the “who’s to blame” instinct is so strong, how it shapes culture, and how to shift toward responsibility and repair without sacrificing accountability. 1. Why your brain reaches for blame so fast Think about the last time something went sideways—a project tanked, a plan fell apart, a conversation blew up. How long did it take before a name popped into your mind? That speed is not an accident. Blame is your b...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Breaks When a Measure Becomes the Main Target?

Image
What Breaks When a Measure Becomes the Main Target? How Goodhart’s Law quietly sabotages your metrics, teams, and strategy Big Picture Box When a measure becomes the main target, it stops being a reliable window into reality. That’s the heart of the question  “what breaks when a measure becomes the main target?” —you don’t just distort the metric; you distort behavior, systems, and learning. This is the practical face of Goodhart’s Law, coined by Charles Goodhart: once people are rewarded or punished directly on a single number, they start optimizing the number instead of the outcome. In this post, you’ll see what actually breaks, how to spot it early, and how to design targets that guide action instead of warping it. Why Measures Break When They Become Targets When a metric becomes  the  target, four fracture lines usually appear. 1. Behavior Starts to Warp People do what you pay them to do, not what you  meant  to pay them to do. Support teams optimize  t...
Post a Comment
Read more

When a story feels convincing, what background facts do we stop checking?

Image
When a story feels convincing, what background facts do we stop checking? How persuasive narratives slip past our critical thinking—and what to watch for Big-picture framing When a  story feels convincing , our brains often trade careful fact-checking for the comfort of coherence. This piece looks at the background facts we quietly stop checking—like time frames, base rates , and incentives —once a narrative “just makes sense.” You’ll see how  base rate neglect , fuzzy definitions , and missing context sneak in under the radar, and how even thoughtful people get swept along. We’ll also walk through a real-world example and a simple questioning pattern you can use in meetings, strategy, and news consumption to enjoy good stories  without  being fooled by them. The invisible trade-off: coherence vs. curiosity When a story clicks, the brain gets a tiny reward:  Ah, this fits. That “click” is great for memory and communication—but it has a cost. We start treating ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why does work feel heavier even when hours don’t increase?

Image
Why does work feel heavier even when hours don’t increase? How invisible load, context-switching, and emotion quietly add “phantom hours”   Big Picture Frame When work feels heavier even when hours don’t increase, it’s usually because the  shape  of your work has changed, not the clock. More decisions, interruptions, and emotional friction can make an eight-hour day feel like twelve. In this post, we’ll unpack why work feels heavier without more hours, how cognitive load and context-switching drain you, and what subtle signals to watch for before burnout sneaks in. You’ll walk away with a simple lens to diagnose “phantom workload” in yourself and your team and language to talk about it without sounding like you’re just complaining. Why work feels heavier without more hours The short answer: “hours worked” is a terrible proxy for “energy spent.” Two people can both work 8 hours. One finishes energized, the other feels flattened. What changed? Usually it’s a mix of: Cogniti...
Post a Comment
Read more