Have you ever been so caught up in what you were doing that you didn’t notice changes going on around you? This failure to notice change, even when it’s right under our noses, is known as change bias. And it happens to organizations as well as people. Kodak didn’t seem to notice the changes going on in the image market. Starbucks didn’t seem to notice the changes going on in its stores (until Howard Schultz wrote his memo during the holidays bemoaning the disappearance of soul from its stores). Many businesses miss market changes until it is nearly too late, like children shrieking as they race up the beach, the incoming waves lapping at their heels. Noticing change requires staying alert to the environment around you.

Check out your own change savviness at Cognitive Daily, or get an even more expansive understanding of our ability to miss change in this summary of study results in the Journal of Vision.