Communication Breakdowns: Real-World Examples
Healthcare wrong-site surgery from unverified assumptions. Aviation crashes from unclear handoffs.
July 2025
Incentive Design Failures Explained
Soviet nail factory paid by weight produced useless heavy nails. Cobra breeding bounty in India increased cobras. Metrics drive unintended gaming.
Ethical Failures in Organizations Explained
Wells Fargo created fake accounts driven by sales quotas. Volkswagen cheated emissions tests. Incentives drove fraud when unchecked by oversight.
Decision-Making Failures Explained Through Real Cases
Kodak invented digital cameras but buried the technology fearing cannibalization. Nokia dismissed smartphones. Blockbuster rejected streaming.
Product Decisions That Backfired
Windows 8 removed Start button, alienating users. New Coke failed despite testing. Clippy annoyed rather than helped users.
Metrics That Destroyed Performance: Case Studies
UK hospitals held patients in ambulances to meet four-hour emergency room targets. Teaching to test scores narrowed education focus.
Learning Systems That Actually Worked
Successful learning systems: Duolingo combines gamification with spaced repetition. Khan Academy uses mastery-based progression preventing early...
Startup Failures Explained Step by Step
Startup failure patterns: Quibi spent $1.75B on wrong mobile hypothesis. Juicero raised $120M for $700 juicer when bags squeezed by hand worked fine.
Real Examples of Cognitive Bias in Action
Cognitive biases: Theranos investors showed confirmation bias ignoring red flags. Concorde project demonstrated sunk cost fallacy continuing...
Systems Fixes That Made Things Worse
Garbage piled in Naples created health crisis from quick fixes. Rent control reduced housing supply. Antibiotic overuse created resistant bacteria.