Bias busters so you & your teams can embrace change.
Change is the one constant in life, and yet our brains aren’t always ready to embrace it.
If you’ve ever felt that internal struggle against new routines, goals, or shifts at work, you’re not alone. Much of this resistance is due to our cognitive biases wired deep within our brains. By understanding how these biases work, we can start to break free from their grip, turning resistance into opportunity.
Why the Brain Resists Change: A Glimpse into Neuroscience
Our brains are designed to keep us safe. At a neurological level, change triggers responses in the amygdala, the brain’s “fear centre,” which activates the body’s fight-or-flight response. Change, even positive, introduces uncertainty, and our brains associate uncertainty with potential threats. This is why unfamiliar changes can cause stress or discomfort – our brains perceive the unknown as a risk.
In contrast, sticking to routines activates the brain’s reward centre, reinforcing behaviours that feel safe and familiar. This “safety net” of habit creates a kind of neurological comfort zone. When we attempt to break from these patterns, cognitive biases often kick in to “protect” us from perceived risks, making change feel daunting.
The Neuroscience Behind Cognitive Biases in Change
Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts that help us make quick decisions, but they can also create blind spots in our thinking. When we experience change, these biases often activate as part of our brain's defensive mechanisms:
Loss Aversion: Our brains tend to focus on what we might lose rather than on potential gains, which can prevent us from taking risks necessary for positive change. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman, known for his work in behavioural economics, highlighted this tendency, noting that losses typically feel twice as powerful as equivalent gains.
Confirmation Bias: This bias causes us to seek out information that supports our current beliefs while disregarding information that contradicts them. It’s particularly strong in times of change, when our brains crave stability and familiarity.
Negativity Bias: A survival-oriented bias, negativity bias makes us focus on potential dangers rather than benefits. This is especially relevant in change scenarios, where the brain prioritises perceived threats over opportunities.
Endowment Effect: Studies show that people assign greater value to things simply because they “own” them. The endowment effect can make letting go of familiar practices or processes feel disproportionately difficult, even if adopting new ways could be beneficial.
Each of these biases plays a role in how we perceive change, contributing to a natural resistance even when the benefits are clear. By understanding these tendencies, we can start to recognise when they're at play in our decision-making and actively seek to address them.
Grab a copy of your free resource, Change Bias Breakthrough!
How to bust your biases
Even though these biases are hardwired, the good news is that there are steps we can take to counteract them:
Practice mindfulness
Seek diverse perspectives
Actively challenging our assumptions
Experiment with these to create a more balanced, open-minded approach to change. Research shows that self-awareness – simply recognising when biases are at play – can reduce their impact significantly, making us more receptive to change.
Making Change Work for You
While our brains are naturally wired to resist change, understanding and addressing these biases helps us turn change into a positive force. By challenging our innate internal blockers, we open ourselves up to growth, improvement, and endless possibilities.
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Let’s start turning resistance into readiness and make change work for you.
Stay Curious - Mel :)
