Understanding the incentives of all the players involved in a given scenario is a key activity to problem solving.
Understanding the incentives of all the players involved in a given scenario is a key activity to problem solving. Also note that different people in the same situation may have very different incentives. Also the incentives don’t always align with the stated goal.
An example of this is given as soccer players kicking a ball in a shootout against a goalie. Statistically speaking, the most likely shot to go in is a ball kicked hard straight at where the goalie already is… but if you kick a ball there and the goalie easily stops it then you look like a fool. So, kickers are incentivized to aim for the corners of the goal, which are slightly less likely to go in, but much less likely to wind up embarrassing them.