Influence from association can also work in reverse, such as when a person is unfairly connected to something unfavorable they did not cause. An example of this is the Persian messenger syndrome (also known as “shoot the messenger”). There is significant danger inherent in this syndrome because people, often executives or politicians, may surround themselves with people who only tell them what they want to hear. Munger pointed to Bill Paley of CBS as an example of someone who put himself in a cocoon of unreality and suffered a major business failure as a result.
