Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou must have had a brain transplant. In a week when scientists showed that entrepreneurs’ grey matter was more active than that of ordinary managers when it came to risk-taking, how else can one explain the ebullient EasyJet founder’s sudden outbreak of caution?

According to the board, Sir Stelios wants to limit the airline’s growth and fleet expansion. He’s seeking – of all things – a commitment to a maiden dividend by 2011, just as other companies are suspending pay-outs to shareholders or cancelling them altogether. All it takes now is for the serial entrepreneur to call for a pair of slippers and an EasyChair and the pioneering brain-switch with a risk-averse middle manager can be declared a success.