Inappropriate Self-Interest: A Beguiling and Unconscious Influence on Decision Making

By: Sydney Finkelstein and Jo Whitehead and Andrew Campbell

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Synopsis: The demise of Enron stands out as an iconic story of self-interest and its corrosive effect on decision making. This story of corruption, however, is extreme, and we might be tempted to think that self-interest is a rare influence on decision making, limited to a few dishonest or misguided people. Not true. In fact, the impact of self-interest is much more pervasive. It can affect the decisions of the most thoughtful and upstanding leaders. It can influence our judgment even when we are trying to prevent it from doing so. In this chapter, the authors review some of the existing research on the pervasiveness and unconscious nature of self-interest and discuss case examples where self-interest affected key strategic decisions. They also suggest ways of detecting inappropriate self-interest at work in your own and others' decision making. This chapter was originally published as chapter 7 of "Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How to Keep It From Happening to You."