Resist the Dopamine hit: Your Brain Chemistry and Project Development
How Dopamine and Serotonin lead to Short-Term Decisions that Destroy Long-Term Value in Infrastructure projects
Infrastructure projects are the backbone of societal progress. They are designed, built, and operated to endure for decades—10, 15, 20, 25, or even 30 years. Hence, they require foresight, planning, and a fierce commitment to long-term goals.
For leaders steering the development of these generationally impactful assets, prioritizing immediate gains over lasting value will not be a welcome approach.
Yet, the leaders of organizations carrying out project development frequently encounter powerful internal sabotage from their own minds.
The intense, urgent pull of immediate gratification.
This psychological struggle is central to why promising projects fail, why resources are squandered, why good people make bad decisions, and why securing durable, favorable infrastructure capital can become unnecessarily complex.
My work leading project development teams keeps me close to the leaders of the organisations I work with.
I have a firsthand view of how some chose options that subverted their own goals, even when they were presented with viable options that gave them better results and better met their long-term objectives
In fact, the idea for this specific note came after I overheard a conversation a few weeks ago. It was a discussion where one of the people discussing was expressing surprise that a company that their firm was in the process of due diligence with had signed another deal with very high interest rates, much higher than market rates and higher than what their firm would have offered.
After picking my jaw from the floor, I remember asking myself, “Why didn’t this person just wait for the better deal?”, “What were they afraid of?”, “What was so urgent?”
I admit that I don’t know the full story or what was going on in that leader’s head. However, I do know that the internal conflict between waiting for better or taking what is in front of you now is not merely intellectual or moral.
It can also be rooted in our hidden emotions and in the neurochemistry of our brains.
I am not a psychologist or neuroscientist.
I am a human being writing to other human beings who are regularly faced with tough decisions.
I am a human being who has lived long enough to accept that human beings do not always choose better, even when presented with the right information, tools, and seemingly better alternatives.
I am also a person fascinated by why people do what they do, why they choose what they choose, and how to get better at taking actions that align with our desired results.
That being said, this week’s note will be different and awkward.
Different because it attempts to briefly explain how brain chemistry impacts human behaviour and the effects of that behaviour on the process of project development. It is not focused on the process of project development, as is usually the case.
Awkward because I feel that way as I share surface-level knowledge of the vast subject of neuroscience, in a watered-down way to be relatable enough for you to get the message, then hopefully decide to explore further on your own.
Nevertheless, let’s dive in.
The real underlying feelings
According to Psychologist Lola Lopes, it is fear and hope, rather than fear and greed, that underlie human behaviour when choosing to invest time, money, and effort. Fear induces us to focus especially on avoiding unfavourable events, while hope induces us to focus especially on all the favorable events that can happen
When Fear is driving our behaviour
Fear of Missing Out/Loss Aversion: fear or anxiety of being outmaneuvered by partners, competitors, or other market participants. Fear of failing to secure a lucrative opportunity or failing to meet up to impress the people we are hoping to impress. For example, these fears can be triggered under intense competitive pressure, with infrastructure bids or competing for a limited pool of grants.
Fear of Ambiguity and Uncertainty: Also described as the fear of the unknown. A known, certain but sub-optimal decision taken today is still better than a good but uncertain decision tomorrow. A bird in hand is worth ten in the bush is the justification here.
When hope is driving our behaviour
Overconfidence: This is when the intensity of one’s hope for an outcome increases one’s estimation of the likelihood that they will actually get it. Excessive hope contributes to misjudging the probability of success or overestimating one’s abilities to achieve the goals.
Ignoring adverse realities: This is when the hyper-focus on the hope of achievement leads to ignoring risks and practicalities of execution because engaging with the risks, even in objective ways of figuring out how to mitigate them, is seen as dampening their hope of success and is perceived as being too negative or against the idea, even if it that would increase the chances of success. In my part of the world, it is saying “God forbid” and refusing to act in ways that prevent the risks from crystallizing.
Neurotransmitters and Infrastructure projects
Infrastructure projects, by their nature, are stressful and can trigger fear as they require the willingness to accept short-term pain and discomfort of heavy initial investment, prolonged development, extensive stakeholder management, and complex due diligence for an objective that may not work out or come to fruition.
Infrastructure projects are also exciting because they lead to deals closing, announcements of large capital raises, and the ceremonial launch of completed projects, giving one a sense of accomplishment and confirming the hope we had was worth it.
While adrenaline and other stress response hormones help prepare the body for rapid action in these situations by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension, neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine play a more nuanced role in these situations:
Dopamine: a key neurotransmitter in our responses, because its release activates a part of the brain that sustains motivation and cognition during stressful situations.
Serotonin: helps the brain “make the right call”. Balanced serotonin levels contribute to better stress management, better regulation, and better decision-making.
In essence, serotonin and dopamine help modulate the brain’s decision-making process and responses.
Dopamine: The Engine of Excitement and Success
Dopamine is a crucial neurotransmitter; it drives desire, motivation, attention, and learning. It coordinates the search for, evaluation of, and motivated pursuit of potential rewards. Often associated with pleasure, its primary function is to propel us toward desired goals and work toward success.
The pursuit of goals activates the brain’s reward system, i.e., releases dopamine into the Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) - the region in the brain critical for motivation. When dopamine hits that region, it helps us feel good or accomplished.
This drives, amongst others:
Excitement and Risk-Taking: The anticipation of earning a reward also triggers the NAcc. Meaning, even the expectation that we will get a reward increases excitement, before the reward itself. This means that with new projects or accomplishments, this excitement is already triggered, which can increase risk-seeking and exploratory behaviour.
Addiction: The relentless pursuit of reward is reinforced by the brain’s natural tendency to release dopamine after a positive event. This can create, among many other addictions, an “addiction to success”. Chasing the dopamine hits that come with the highs of taking the next big step or achieving big things, even if they are short-term gains that have negative long-term effects.
Dopamine, therefore, is the engine that drives the irresistible urge to capture a win, even if that win compromises the decade-long viability of an infrastructure asset.
Serotonin: The Modulator of Impulsivity and Control
Serotonin is another vital neurotransmitter that, when balanced, helps modulate mood and control behaviour. Its deficiency is directly linked to an inability to prioritize long-term rewards. Low Serotonin can lead to:
Impulsivity: Research has found that low serotonin levels cause a reduction in impulse control. This means that when serotonin is low, people are more likely to be impulsive and quick to react, rather than take a measured approach to frame a response or choose a better option.
Impaired Judgment: Low serotonin may also impair the ability to properly differentiate between large and small potential payoffs, leading to impaired judgment that subverts long-term objectives.
In project development, this translates into a leadership team susceptible to rash decisions, unable to rationally assess the full long-term financial payoff because the immediate, smaller gratification feels disproportionately urgent.
How it manifests
This short-term focus, driven by fear of loss or the unknown, or driven by a blind hope that ignores practicalities, can lead to a specific set of destructive behaviours that erode long-term value and repel long-term investors.
1. Rushing or skipping important steps
Project Development is fundamentally structured around sequential execution due to information dependency. Quality outputs that attract capital require a systematic build-up of information and rigorous analysis, which depends on the previous step being carried out properly. Short-term acting can lead to
Poor project choices: The foundational step in project development is the Concept Development Stage, which leads to a clear Go/No-Go decision and should lead to the selection of projects that align with the long-term vision and strategic direction of the organization. The dopamine hit of wanting to move fast leads leaders to rush screening or skip this stage entirely, jumping straight into costly feasibility studies. This results in pursuing short-term projects that fall outside the long-term objectives, thereby wasting scarce human and financial resources.
Bypassing processes: The lure of speed can cause project representatives to ask teams to bypass the logical sequence of events in project development. This needless rushing leads to avoidable errors that lead to wasted time and resources.
Poor risk mitigation: Driven by fear and hope, risk mitigation may not be properly done or completely ignored, leading to contracts that do not protect the project and risk allocation that makes the project un-investable for long term investors. The absence of comprehensive risk mitigation, including insurance, makes it extremely difficult to attract the large-scale, long-term capital required for infrastructure delivery
2. Compromising project integrity and compliance
The pursuit of short-term ease often results in shortcuts that violate ethical and compliance standards.
Facilitating Sharp Practices: Temptations include offering bribes or exchanges of favours to bypass regulations and due process even for life saving and protective practices. This ignores real risks and erodes trust, leading to ballooning long-term costs and legal liabilities.
Compliance Gaps: Investors rigorously assess adherence to local regulations and international Environmental and Social (E&S) standards, which are non-negotiable for achieving bankability. Leaders who rush may skip this, leaving behind missing permits, lapsed licenses, and compliance gaps, which are quickly identified during due diligence and stall financial close.
3. Refusing to organize properly for capital
Organizational rigour is crucial for attracting capital, but it is unglamorous and often skipped in the rush for financing.
Disorganized structures: Avoiding the boring and unglamorous parts like record-keeping and maintaining processes because they don’t seem exciting enough. Yet they are necessary for transaction success. This internal disorganization - refusing to organise properly to receive capital - wastes time and makes the entire transaction unnecessarily expensive and frustrating.
Failing to meet conditions precedent (CPs): The goal of development is to produce a “bankable asset”. Due diligence findings directly influence the Conditions Precedents (CPs) that must be met before funds are disbursed. Projects that skip preparation steps fail to meet these CPs quickly, thereby delaying the project or triggering the investors’ step-in rights due to eroded trust.
4. Accepting bad capital and funding terms
The urgency to secure capital immediately, regardless of the cost or terms, like the leader I heard about. Developers may accept riskier deals or worse terms because of time pressure set by the expiry dates of authorizations, or a false sense of urgency and fear of missing out.
While this decision addresses the immediate funding need, it reduces project viability because of the higher cost of capital, reduction of returns, and introduction of significant refinancing risk if market conditions become more unfavorable later.
Acting this way is often rationalized as “being decisive” or “acting with urgency,” even when that urgency has long-term adverse impacts on the project’s attractiveness to other investors. A leader may also justify accepting riskier capital because the cost and time of structuring that deal is lower compared to the time and burden of investigating and securing better deals.
Bringing it all home
This note took me longer to write than most of the 42 written so far.
If you have read it to the end, thank you for trusting that I was going somewhere useful and staying with it.
Feelings and Brain Chemistry are not usually what you expect to read about when discussing project development.
Yet they cannot be ignored, because while they are hidden, they underpin how and why we act the way we do.
Knee-jerk reactions from poorly regulated emotional responses can masquerade as speed and efficiency.
That speed, which brought short-term gains, fast emotional relief, and a quick hit of dopamine, is harmful if it subverted long-term value.
Accept that you are not as rational as you think you are.
Take many minutes or many days to consider decisions; use that time to regulate your impulse to act fast and soothe the feelings of desperation or urgency.
It could be exaggerated fear, a false sense of hope, or an addiction to dopamine hits, driving your decision.
It is human to feel these things; nothing is inherently wrong with feeling them. In fact, they show you care about something.
What is wrong is when they are unchecked, hijack our cognition, and lead to poor decisions that sabotage us in the long run.
Apart from learning about the steps, language, and tools for project development, successfully navigating the long-term horizon of infrastructure development requires an understanding of strategies that help manage or overcome the chemical rushes of the moment and create the mental space for better decisions.
By managing these internal neurochemical systems and emotional biases, you empower yourself and your organizations to move beyond the transient euphoria of immediate wins or fears to building assets that truly deliver sustained value and impact for generations to come.
Reviewed to complete this note
Inside the Investor’s Brain - The Power of Mind Over Money by Richard L. Peterson
Serotonin and aversive processing in affective and social decision-making – MJ Crockett and R Cools.
Beyond Fear and Greed; Understanding Behavioral Finance and the Psychology of Investing - Hersh Shefrin.
Navigating Project Selection and Execution for Competitive Advantage – John Triantis.
All errors in naming, description, application, context, and categorisation are mine.