The Stupid Syndrome
Why Smart Leaders Fall for the Wrong Ideas
By LG Henwood
Published by Collective Ink · October 2026
The Book
The Stupid Syndrome
Why Smart Leaders Fall for the Wrong Ideas
How it connects to the Veritus Framework
The Veritus Framework provides a clear, practical discipline for improving decision quality.
The Stupid Syndrome goes further by examining:
how leadership dynamics distort judgement
why persuasive confidence often overrides evidence
how organisational silence enables avoidable error
where incentives and ego quietly shape outcomes
Through real-world scenarios, the book shows how frameworks like Veritus prevent decisions being driven by instinct alone — and how they create clarity before commitment.
The book and the framework are designed to work together:
Veritus provides the discipline
The book provides the context, patterns, and cautionary lessons
This book exists to challenge certainty before it becomes consequence.
This book exists to challenge certainty before it becomes consequence.
Who the book is for
This book is written for:
Board members and senior executives
CIOs, COOs, and transformation leaders
Leaders responsible for AI, digital, or strategic change
Anyone accountable for decisions that are difficult to reverse
It is particularly relevant where decisions involve complexity, uncertainty, or strong internal persuasion.
What makes it different
The Stupid Syndrome does not offer:
motivational leadership slogans
abstract theory
or retrospective blame
Instead, it focuses on:
recognising decision traps early
rebuking overconfident persuasion
restoring evidence, alignment, and accountability
making better decisions before consequences appear
The emphasis is practical, direct, and grounded in leadership reality.
Availability
The Stupid Syndrome: Why Smart Leaders Fall for the Wrong Ideas
is available for pre-order in paperback format.
Publication date: 27 October 2026
Publisher: Collective Ink
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Available for Pre-order