Persian Messenger Syndrome

Charlie Munger’s name (in Charlie Munger — The Psychology of Human Misjudgment) for the failure mode in which a leader punishes the bearers of bad news, and so stops receiving it — sealing himself in “a cocoon of unreality.” Munger’s example is CBS under Chairman Paley, whose hostility to bad news led to one bad deal after another.

Context: The name alludes to the ancient practice of killing the messenger who brought bad tidings. Munger uses it to warn that shooting the messenger trains an organization to hide unwelcome truths, leaving the decision-maker badly informed.

Where this appears

• Charlie Munger — The Psychology of Human Misjudgment — Munger cites CBS in its late heyday, where Chairman Paley’s hostility to bad news left him living “in a cocoon of unreality.”