Overcome Endowment (Surface the Cost of Inaction)
People cling to old ways because they underrate how costly staying put is.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
The endowment effect makes people value what's already theirs and treat old things as safe and new things as risky. Because switching always costs something up front, people default to the status quo — but they underestimate the accumulating cost of the old way. The catalyst's job is to highlight that hidden cost, making people realize that staying put isn't as costless as it seems, so the one-time cost of switching looks worthwhile.
Origin
Berger's cousin Charles refused to set up an email signature, insisting it only took a couple seconds to type 'best, Charles.' Berger asked how many emails he sent — hundreds a week — and Charles suddenly went online to automate his signature once the cumulative cost was visible.
Core principles
- 01We're attached to what's already ours and treat old things as safe.
- 02New things feel risky simply because they're unfamiliar.
- 03The old way seems costless but often carries hidden, accumulating costs.
- 04Making the true cost of inaction visible tips the scale toward change.
How to run it
- 1
Spot the status-quo default
Recognize when someone stays with the old option because it feels safe and the new one feels risky.
- 2
Quantify the cost of inaction
Add up what the old way actually costs over time, not just per instance.
Pro tip Per moment the old thing is always cheaper; over time it's often the expensive choice.
- 3
Make the hidden cost visible
Show the person the accumulating cost so staying put no longer feels free.
Pro tip Use their own numbers — let them compute the total.
In the wild
Charles refused to set up an email signature because typing 'best, Charles' only took seconds. Berger asked how many emails he wrote a week — 200 to 300 — prompting Charles to total the time.
→ Once the cumulative cost was visible, Charles went and automated his signature.
Common mistakes
Only pitching the new thing's benefits
Ignoring the cost of the status quo leaves the endowment effect intact and the person stays put.
Judging cost per instance
At each moment the old way is cheaper; only the accumulated cost reveals the real price of inaction.
Is it for you?
Best for
Displacing an incumbent supplier, tool, or habit.
Not ideal for
Cases where the old way genuinely is cheaper over the full horizon.
From the transcript
“people think old things are safe and new ones are risky”
“at each moment it's always cheaper to do the old thing than the new thing the new thing is always going to be more costly…”
“how can we make people realize that doing the old thing that's sticking with what they're doing already isn't as costly as it might seem”
From the episode
Jonah Berger on How to Change Anyone's Mind