Case file
Zero-Sum Thinking
- Filed under
- Not Enough Meaning
- Also recorded as
- zero-sum thinking
The charge
Zero-sum bias is assuming one person's or group's gain must come at another's expense, even when mutual gain is possible.
How it operates
Competitive framing is cognitively simpler than modeling ways value can expand for both sides.
Logged incidents
- Incident 01
A manager assumes employee flexibility must reduce output.
- Incident 02
A trade debate treats imports only as losses and ignores gains from exchange.
- Incident 03
A PM frames privacy and growth as impossible to improve together.
What to watch for
Ask: Am I assuming a fixed pie without checking whether the pie can grow?
Recommended action
Use integrative-negotiation techniques and explicitly search for positive-sum designs.
Known associates
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- Murphy's Law (as cognitive bias)As a cognitive bias, Murphy's Law is the tendency to overexpect that things will go wrong, often in chains,…
- Survivorship BiasSurvivorship bias is drawing lessons from the cases that remain visible while missing the failures that…
- Subadditivity EffectSubadditivity effect is assigning higher total probability when a broad category is unpacked into specific…
Source of record