Have you ever wondered why it’s blindly accepted to just do things the same way they’ve always been done? Have you noticed how a new business can completely disrupt an industry by doing things totally different? Sometimes they put established companies out of business, even though the original business could have implemented the same strategies before the disruptor. A big reason this happens is normalcy bias.
Normalcy bias is where the brain believes that everything will be normal and waits for things to be normal again in a time of crisis. This principle not only applies to business, but it very much applies to some of the reasons many people weren’t prepared for the coronavirus pandemic even though it had been on the news weeks before the shutdown. This normalcy bias episode is directly influenced by episode 91. Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics.
If you have not yet listened to that episode…I highly recommend it. There is so much going on right now with new announcements every day of countries taking new and very important precautions to stop the spread of this disease. That episode talks about why the brain is wired to react the way it does during a novel and frightening situation like this, and why we all feel inclined to hoard lots of supplies like toilet paper even when we know that is a bit irrational.
Normalcy bias is very much tied in with the situation we all find ourselves in as coronavirus is changing our entire world. It is also a bias that you can overcome to benefit your business.
