"If it's not broken, why fix it?"

People have a natural tendency to stick with what they know. In behavioral economics, status quo bias refers to our preference for maintaining the current state of affairs rather than embracing change. First identified by Samuelson and Zeckhauser in 1988, experiments showed that given a choice, individuals often disproportionately choose whatever option means doing nothing new. In the workplace, this bias can manifest as clinging to familiar tools and processes – even when better alternatives exist – simply because change feels uncertain. Psychologically, the bias is rooted in emotion: change involves risk, and people are uncomfortable with uncertain outcomes.