The Thing I Was Rewarded For (and What Famine Research Taught Me About Risk)

I just started reading Scarcity by Sendhil Mullainathan, and pretty quickly had that feeling of, oh… yeah. That explains a lot.

Early in the book, Mullainathan talks about research done after WWII, when scientists were trying to understand how famine affected people’s thinking.

The larger goal of the study was practical and urgent:
to figure out the best, most effective way to help people start eating properly and move out of starvation.

What surprised them wasn’t just hunger.

It was how thoughts about food moved front and center—consciously and unconsciously.

Planning.
Creativity.
Long-term thinking.

All of that got pushed to the edges.

Not because it was a choice.
Food simply wasn’t there.

A Parallel Pattern. Different Context.

As I was reading, I couldn’t help but notice the parallel—in my own life, and in the work I do with clients.

For a lot of high-achieving professionals, scarcity doesn’t show up as not having enough food or money. It shows up as a constant focus on risk.

On not messing up.
On not being the team that lets the business break.
On keeping the whole thing upright—ideally without anyone noticing how much effort that actually takes.

That’s the business operator mindset.

And here’s the tricky part:
we’re usually rewarded for it.

Risk monitoring gets praised.
Firefighting gets noticed.
Being the team that keeps things from going sideways builds trust and status.

Quiet, steady prevention?
Mostly invisible—until something breaks.

When the Operator Takes Over

That same operator mode is great at minimizing downside.

It’s also really good at blocking out explorer mode—the part of you that’s curious, that wants to test ideas, that can imagine something different without immediately shutting it down.

I didn’t see this for a long time.

I genuinely thought I was doing it right—being prudent, thoughtful, strategic. All the things you get promoted for. And, honestly, I was rewarded for it.

But every time I seriously considered starting my own business, I’d end up right back on the hamster wheel.

A growing stack of start your own business books on my shelves.
Bookmarks piling up in my browser.
Podcasts queued for my commute.

That stack of books?

Stared at me from across the room while I sat in meetings with consulting clients.

The operator loved this.
The explorer never left for the airport.

Making Room Again

If that’s true…

then maybe the problem isn’t that you’re unclear or indecisive.

Maybe it’s that one mode of thinking has quietly taken over the room.

I dig into this more—how operator mode blocks out explorer mode, why big decisions start to feel foggy, and what opens up when the explorer finally gets some air time again.

Helping you make room for what’s next,

Pierre

Certified Professional Coach

Photo by Moheb Iskander on Unsplash