The status-quo trap is a common decision-making bias that often leads otherwise smart and accomplished business people, fearless startup founders, and decision makers of all stripes to making a decision that perpetuates the status quo, whether on the team, product, or company level.
Decision makers who are trapped in the status quo mentality (they are often not aware of it) tend to make “safe” decisions and will only consider alternatives that don’t violate the status quo.
Consider the example of Kodak, a once prominent maker of optical zoom cameras, that refused to see digital cameras as an emerging and disruptive technology and an alternative to the status quo. Refusing to embrace this new technology has resulted in a great missed opportunity for Kodak and ultimately lead to bankruptcy protection filing for the company.