Invented Here Syndrome
Updated 2026-08-15
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Invented here syndrome is the mirror image of the not-invented-here bias: rather than rejecting outside ideas, an organization overvalues what it has produced itself. Even when a mature external solution is better and cheaper, teams rebuild it internally, justifying the choice with claims that their needs are special. The preference comes from control, pride and self-serving attribution, and it pushes commercial logic aside in favour of the desire to create.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Ask the core question: check whether this capability is genuinely part of your competitive advantage. - Price the build: quantify the internal cost, the maintenance burden and the opportunity cost. - Buy the rest: acquire or reuse anything that is not a source of differentiation.
Anchor fast decisions
Building something internally produces control, ownership and a sense of competence, all of which are valued independently of the result. Because the builders also evaluate the decision, the emotional return is counted as a benefit while the maintenance burden and foregone alternatives are not. The result is that commercial logic is outweighed by the rewards of creation.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_invented_hereverified
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