What if I told you the biggest threat to your business isn’t the competition but your brain? Leaders make costly decisions daily because of one mind trap— the status quo bias. It’s the reason billion-dollar companies collapse, why once-great leaders fail to adapt, and why you might be unknowingly sabotaging your success.

So, today, I take you inside the shocking failures of Kodak, Blockbuster, and Microsoft— companies that refused to adapt, believing that what worked yesterday would work forever. I’ll show you how to spot the status quo bias in your leadership, why your brain resists necessary change, and three battle-tested strategies to break free and make bold, winning decisions.

Don’t let your brain run your business on autopilot. Hit play now for new insights on decision-making biases. And for a deeper dive, grab a copy of my book, The Mammoth in the Room, and discover how to outthink your instincts for exceptional business results.

In this episode:

- Introduction to the status quo bias

- The Kodak story: A giant that refused to move

- Understanding the status quo bias and its evolutionary roots

- Market shift trap: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

- Internal process trap: Microsoft's lost decade

- Personal career trap: Steve Ballmer and mobile revolution

- How to overcome the status quo bias

References:

Harvard Business Review: The Hidden Traps in Decision Making, John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa (September–October 1998) https://hbr.org/1998/09/the-hidden-traps-in-decision-making-2

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science185,1124-1131(1974). DOI:10.1126/science.185.4157.1124 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.185.4157.1124

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1981). The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. Science, 211(4481), 453–458.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1685855

Get in Touch:

Website: https://www.mammothleadershipsciences.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaspokorny

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MammothLeadershipSciences