Guest Post: Spoiled Teenager Syndrome

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog, Is masking risk, cost and consequence a strategy that leads to success? No; it is a pathway to catastrophic failure. What are the core characteristics of the spoiled teenager? The conventional view is that the spoiled teen "gets everything they want." In my view, the key characteristic of Spoiled Teenager Syndrome is that risk, cost and consequence have been masked. This is a systemic point of view, meaning that the masking of risk, cost and consequence help us understand not just the eventual failure of spoiled teenagers but the eventual failure of every group or enterprise that masks risk, cost and consequence as a strategy to paper over an unsustainable Status Quo. This includes families, companies, states and nations. The spoiled teen is spoiled precisely because the risk, cost and consequence of their choices and actio...