Action bias

Biological Parallel

Soccer goalkeepers dive left or right on 94% of penalty kicks, despite staying center being optimal (33% of shots go center). Action feels like agency. Squirrels exhibit action bias when storing food: when a cache site is suboptimal, they re-cache rather than leave it—even when energetic cost exceeds benefit. Chimpanzees continue tool-modified foraging when direct access would be faster—action over waiting. For ancestral humans and primates, doing something—gathering, hunting, building—improved survival odds more than passivity. Predator approaching? Act. Food scarce? Forage. Action bias reflects an environment where initiative usually beat passivity. Modern CEOs show the same pattern: during crises, 78% initiate restructuring even when 'wait and see' performs better historically. Millions of years encoded 'doing something beats doing nothing,' even when statistics say otherwise.