A Few More Details

Availability Shortcut

Our tendency to rely on the first or most vivid examples that come to mind when making decisions—especially when assessing how likely or how common something is. If it’s easy to remember or emotionally striking, we assume it’s more important, more frequent, or more likely—even if it’s not.

Why It Happens

  • Our brains are built for speed: fast recall feels like accuracy.
  • Vivid, emotional, or recent events are easier to remember, and we confuse ease of recall with truth.
  • We’re constantly bombarded with dramatic examples (especially via media), which distorts our sense of risk and frequency.

This is a mental shortcut—it saves energy, but it can easily lead us astray.

Why It Can Be Good

  • Speeds up decision-making, especially when time is limited.
  • Draws attention to past experiences, which can be useful when they’re actually relevant.
  • Helps highlight outlier risks that may warrant investigation (e.g., “We had a near miss—should we take another look?”).
  • Encourages storytelling, which can enhance communication and engagement.

Why It Can Be Bad

  • Overestimates the importance of rare or recent events.
  • Leads to decisions based on fear, headlines, or gut feeling rather than facts.
  • Misses the bigger picture, especially with long-term or complex issues.
  • Ignores quieter, more frequent problems that don’t “feel” urgent.

How It Shows Up in Leaders

  • Making decisions based on the last incident or complaint, rather than trends or data.
  • Overreacting to a recent near miss, assuming it’s now a major risk.
  • Recalling one strong personal experience and assume it reflects the broader truth.
  • Underestimating risks if they haven’t occurred recently or aren’t dramatic.
  • Prioritizing action based on what’s most memorable, not what’s most important.

How It Shows Up in Teams

  • Crews overestimate risks they’ve just seen or heard about (e.g., “That accident last week could happen to us!”).
  • They ignore routine hazards that don’t feel urgent or memorable.
  • They say things like: “That’s never happened to me.” “I saw that video of a crane collapse—let’s cancel the lift.” “We’ve never had a problem with this, so it’s fine.”
  • They focus safety conversations on the most shocking example, not the most likely hazard.