The Human Element

3 Inertia: Why We Stick with What We Know

The hit TV series Breaking Bad revolves around two unforgettable characters: Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who turns his talents to manufacturing crystal meth, and Jessie Pinkman, his hapless former student who acts as his street dealer. Walter “cooks” crystal meth from an old, rusty RV. The RV made sense when they first started. But as their operation turns into a multinational network earning unimaginable profits, Jessie wonders why they still use the RV.

JESSE:	“Why do we keep it? Why do we cook out of the world's shittiest RV?”
WALT:	“Inertia?”
JESSE:	“Yeah, that's right. Inertia.”

People are often reluctant to embrace new ideas and possibilities, even when the benefits are obvious and indisputable. That's because the human mind prefers familiarity and stability to uncertainty and change. This design feature goes by different names. Psychologists call it the status quo bias. Marketing scholars call it the familiarity effect. We, like Walter White, call it Inertia. Inertia captures the idea that the human mind is hardwired to favor the familiar. For the innovator, Inertia is an ever‐present Friction because new ideas ask people to embrace the unknown. This chapter explains why and what can be done about it.

Picture yourself shipwrecked and stranded on a deserted island. You are in survival mode. As you search ...