"The Dark Pattern" book review
The Dark Pattern by Guido Palazzo and Ulrich Hoffrage kept appearing in my LinkedIn feed thanks to the slightly odd cross-section of people I seem to know in the ethics, risk and compliance world. Every week someone was praising it, quoting it or hinting that it explained far more about corporate behaviour than most leadership books ever dare to. After the tenth appearance I took the hint and ordered a copy. I expected something dry and worthy. What arrived instead was a sharp, unsettling and oddly compassionate exploration of how scandals really take shape inside organisations.
Palazzo and Hoffrage make one point very clearly. Corporate scandals almost never begin with cartoon villains or a single dramatic moment. They begin with systems. The pressures, incentives, blind spots and unspoken expectations that shape everyday decision-making. As they put it, “focusing on bad apples usually explains next to nothing”, because the roots lie far deeper in the surrounding culture.
It is an idea that feels both obvious and strangely overlooked. Most people want to do the right thing. Very few wake up planning to cut corners. Yet the book shows, patiently and persuasively, how ethical drift happens. Not overnight, not through one spectacular lapse, but through a long series of small choices. Tiny compromises that feel harmless in the moment but accumulate into something far more serious.
Why this book hits harder than most ethics writing
What makes it powerful is how recognisable it all feels. You read a chapter and find yourself thinking, yes, I have seen versions of that. I understand how people lose their footing. The book’s explanation is disarmingly simple. “Behaviour is strongly influenced by a context that promotes unethical decisions and makes ethical behaviour more difficult.” It is rarely about intent. It is about environment.
If you have ever worked in a large organisation, you will likely recognise the patterns. Targets that nudge people towards shortcuts. Cultures where performance is celebrated more loudly than prudence. Situations where raising a concern makes you feel exposed or awkward rather than supported. The slow creep of normalised risk. Nothing explosive. Just gradual misalignment.
To be clear, the book is not describing everyone or every workplace. Nor is it condemning entire industries. It is simply showing how human behaviour bends under pressure. And speaking as someone who has spent years inside complex structures, I can understand completely how these dynamics can form. Not because people are bad, but because systems are powerful.
A systems lens that finally makes sense
The authors are at their best when explaining how success itself can mask emerging problems. When a team delivers results, risky behaviour is easily reframed as ingenuity. When pressure climbs, corners quietly shorten. When leaders are distracted, early warning signals slip past unnoticed. Culture becomes something self-reinforcing and hard to challenge from within.
They also offer a thoughtful analysis of why speaking up fails so easily. It is not usually fear of formal punishment. It is fear of being seen as difficult, disloyal or naïve. Belonging is a stronger social force than we like to admit. That line between loyalty and silence is where many scandals delay their reckoning.
Why communications, ethics and leadership people should read this
Anyone working in communications, risk, culture, leadership or brand reputation will find this book essential. It dismantles the comforting idea that scandals are caused by a few bad actors who went rogue. Instead it shows how small misalignments snowball when systems are badly designed or when cultural pressures go unexamined.
For those of us who have seen the more complex corners of corporate life, the book gives language to things we have sensed but not always named. It does not point fingers. It simply explains the machinery.
A cautious note of optimism
Despite its subject, The Dark Pattern is not a cynical book. It argues that organisations can design for integrity with as much intent as they design for productivity. Transparency can be engineered. Accountability can be strengthened. Cultural drift can be spotted early. None of this is inevitable. It just requires attention.
What I took from it is simple. Scandals rarely look shocking from the inside. What is shocking is how long they are allowed to grow before anyone joins the dots. If we want healthier organisations, we need to make it easier for people to speak plainly, and early, without fear of being cast as the problem.
If you have read it, I’d love to know what struck you most. If not, it is well worth an afternoon. It might even help you see your own work environment with a bit of extra clarity, which is never a bad thing.