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agency

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    Incentive Design Entry #0380

    Why commission changes advice more than dishonesty

    Advisers paid by outcome rarely lie. They notice different options, so the incentive does its work through attention rather than through deceit.

    Master
    The hidden part #0380

    An incentive does not need to corrupt anyone. It only needs to change which option comes to mind first.

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    Market Signals Entry #0407

    Why a founder’s own money changes investor behaviour

    Retained personal exposure is readable in a way that a projection is not. It reports what the founder believes, which is separate from whether they are right.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0407

    Exposure reports belief, not correctness. It is costly to fake and silent about whether the belief is right.

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    Decision Architecture Entry #0137

    The reason you accept a worse deal when you chose the shortlist

    Selecting the options feels like authorship of the outcome. Ownership of the shortlist transfers to the choice made from it, whatever the shortlist excluded.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0137

    Whoever writes the shortlist makes the decision. Whoever picks from it gets the feeling of having made it.

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    Brand Language Entry #0491

    The reason a tagline avoids verbs

    A verb states an action that can be checked. A noun phrase states nothing checkable, which is why the safest taglines are the ones that assert least.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0491

    A verb can be audited. A noun phrase can only be interpreted, and interpretation is the reader’s liability.

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    Framing Effects Entry #0525

    Why a neutral description is itself a frame

    Every description selects a level of detail, a boundary and a vocabulary. Choosing not to editorialise does not remove those choices, it conceals them.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0525

    Neutral prose still picks the subject, the verb and the boundary. It is the most effective frame because it offers nothing to disagree with.

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