LEADERSHIP
Under Pressure, Experienced Leaders Default To The Familiar
Capable executives make poor calls under pressure because behaviour defaults to what is automatic and cognitively easy, not because discipline is missing, argues an Entrepreneur piece published on 18 September 2026. It draws on Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow and its account of two mental systems, one fast and habitual, the other slow and analytical, with stress handing control to the first.
The piece describes priorities drifting toward what feels urgent rather than what matters most: difficult conversations postponed, short-term demands accepted, reactive choices replacing considered ones. Its proposed remedy is structural rather than motivational, echoing the choice architecture Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein popularised in Nudge, where calendar buffers, predefined decision frameworks and muted notifications reshape the environment surrounding a decision.
Source: Entrepreneur · September 18, 2026