How To Avoid The Cognitive Inertia Trap
The world is exploding. There's mass debate on what's right for "us." A small virus has exploited the divide amongst how we think.
On a broader scale, it's interesting to watch. Spring breakers claiming the Coronavirus can't disrupt their "party," and it's unfair the government is closing the bars.
"It's not nearly as bad as the flu," one partygoer blurted out.
Then, you have the mass hysteria of the world coming to an end and a doomsday proposition on the opposite side of the spectrum.
Seriously, watch the news, and you'll want to blow your fucking brains out.
The ups and downs are overwhelming, but we must resist the urge of cognitive inertia and use our damn brains. Filter the noise and make sense of the truth.
No matter what side you're on, there's a universal truth to what everyone is claiming…
Social distancing, incredible personal hygiene, and test EVERYONE.
Before we go on, what is Cognitive Inertia?
"It's the tendency for a particular orientation in how an individual thinks about an issue, belief, or strategy to endure or resist change."
Sound familiar?
"It has also been implicated in disregard of an impending threat to one's health or environment, enduring political values and deficits in task switching."
Now, if that doesn't smack you across your, I'm not social distancing head, then wake up.
People have been living a certain way for so long that the avoidance to change is killing them.
They don't see any impending threat, as the inertia of their past daily life and what other people are saying is pulling them in the wrong direction.
This doesn't just apply to public health.
The Open School of Management defines it this way:
Cognitive inertia is the principle of any entity that is resistant to change. In business terms, cognitive inertia refers to the psychological reluctance to alter or amend industry practices, accustomed habits, corporate routines, business goals, or staff procedures, despite their declinations or inaccuracies. Managers often fail to revise their perception or modernize their methods when the outlying environment demands it.
Managers at the Polaroid Corporation believed that profits were solely dependent on consumables; therefore disregarding the advancement of digital imaging technology. Because the corporation's business model was based on cognitive inertia, the company did not adapt to market changes and consumer demand and it eventually declined to nearly obsolete.
Examples of cognitive inertia
The 1918 Spanish Flu is a clear indication of cognitive inertia. And yet, here we are again.
In the Journal of History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, "Waiting for the Flu: Cognitive Inertia and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918–19," offers a stark reality with our current predicament.
"This study looks at public awareness and understanding of the Spanish flu in the United States between June 1918, when the flu became "Spanish," and the end of September when the deadly second wave reached the majority of the country. Based on an extensive reading of local newspapers, it finds a near universal lack of preparation or panic or other signs of personal concern among those in the unaffected areas, despite extensive and potentially worrying coverage of the flu's progress. The normal reaction to news of the inexorable approach of a pandemic of uncertain virulence is anxiety and action. The Spanish flu produced neither in the uninfected areas for a month. The most likely reason appears to be cognitive inertia—the tendency of existing beliefs or habits of thought to blind people to changed realities. This inertia grew out of the widespread understanding of flu as a seasonal visitor that while frequently unpleasant almost never killed the strong and otherwise healthy. This view of the flu was powerful enough that it blinded many in the unaffected regions to the threat for weeks even in the face of daily or near daily coverage of the pandemic's spread."
We can see this same situation in every area of the world, with the Coronavirus.
What would be the result if we had taken this threat seriously when it became clear in the Wuhan region of China?
It's easy for me to project this question as I'm not the one who enforces universal decisions. Still, it's a question worth pondering and how Cognitive Inertia has forced most of the world into its viral corner.
How you can avoid the inertial temptation
Cognitive inertia is a strong pull.
From what I see, some personalities are more easily pulled than others, but the psychologists best serve that classification.
Setting time aside to think
If you're not setting time aside to think through a problem, or you have complacency on an issue, then you're setting yourself up for cognitive inertia.
Wikipedia has a great explanation of this in competitive strategies:
"Scenario planning has been one suggestion to combat cognitive inertia when it comes to making strategic decisions to improve business. Individuals come up with different strategies and outline how the scenario could play out taking into account different ways it could go. Scenario planning allows for diverse ideas to be heard as well as the breadth of each scenario which can help combat relying on existing methods and thinking alternatives are unrealistic."
While we're at it, this applies to management, but either work outside of the business domain.
"Managers with high cognitive flexibility that can change the type of cognitive processing based on the situation at hand are often the most successful in solving novel problems and keeping up with changing circumstances. Interestingly, shift in mental models (disrupting cognitive inertia) during company crisis are often at the lower group level with leaders coming to a consensus with the rest of the workforce, instead of vice versa, in how to process and deal with the crisis. It is proposed that leaders can often be blinded by their authority and too easily disregard those at the front-line of the problem causing them to reject remunerative ideas."
Controlling your emotions
For years, I let my emotions control me in good and bad decisions.
It almost every circumstance, my emotions clouded my judgment by putting mental blinders on.
We never make great decisions based on emotion.
That's what you hear some leaders saying it's not the virus that's going to have the biggest impact, it's the panic.
Panic is never good, especially on a global scale.
Sure, it's hard to resist this right now, but resist we must.
We must think clearly, take in the facts, and execute based on what information we have.
Practice excellent communication
The last point in avoiding cognitive inertia is how we communicate in written and verbal form.
Having a one-sided mindset is dangerous.
The best communicators can verbalize complex ideas into simple points. That's why no matter all the technical jargon you've been reading; there are five or so simple hygiene steps to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus.
Effective communicators listen. They listen to all sides and make sense of the information being presented to them.
They ask great questions.
And finally, they're empathetic.
This is a time where we must ask great questions, listen, have empathy to other viewpoints, and give clear and concise directions that aren't based on emotion.
